The diary and letters of Gouverneur Morris, minister of the United States to France etc.,

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PREFACE.

THE desire which has been repeatedly expressed by
persons cognizant of its existence, that the important
and interesting manuscript left by Gouverneur Morris
should be brought to light — the portion buried in Mr.
Jared Sparks's history as well as the large and more
piquant part excluded therefrom — induced me to under
take the work of editing the diary and letters of my
grandfather.

The chief object I had in view was to put in such a
form as might prove attractive to the public his letters
and the notes which he daily jotted down during that
most momentous epoch of modern history — the period
of the Revolution in France.

With no political principles to advance or maintain,
and with no hero of romance or of the sword upon
whose merits to descant, my effort was simply to cull,
from a voluminous manuscript, all the varied and striking
incidents in the world of politics in the cabinet, and of
society in the boudoir and salon ; and, by the light of the
keen delineations of character, so full of the verve and
essence of the moment, therein contained, to bring into
strong relief the motives and actions of men and women.

IV PREFACE.

Americans will doubtless accord a ready sympathy to
a man who was truly an American, and at a time when
thus to proclaim his principles attested an independence
careless of unpopularity. Possibly, too, our kindred over
seas may find something of interest in the career of one
who, though a rebel against England, spent the best
years of his life assisting in the formation of a govern
ment under which the poor of the earth might find an
asylum, and whose views were consistently " favorable
to the peace and happiness of mankind."

ANNE GARY MORRIS.

Old Morrisania, October, 1888.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

Gouverneur Morris. Birth. Education. Graduates at King's College.
Studies law. Licensed to practise. Early development of a taste
for finance, Takes an active part in the events which ended in the
Declaration of Independence. Elected a member of the first Pro
vincial Congress in 1775. Speaks on finance. Leads in debates in
the New York Congress. Draws up instructions for Franklin, then
Minister to France. Reports to Congress on the subject of a treaty
with the British Commissioners. Practises law in Philadelphia. Ap
pointed assistant to the Superintendent of Finance. Practises his
profession after the war. Becomes known to the French Ministry
through a letter written to the Marquis de Chastellux. A delegate
to the Convention which formed the Constitution. Sails for France
in 1788, . ... . . ... i ". I

CHAPTER II.

Morris Lands at Havre. Goes to Paris. Letter to the French minister
in America. State of Paris. Washington's commission. Letter to
William Carmichael. Society life. Madame de Chastellux' s salon
and others. Paris on the eve of the Revolution. Madame de Beau-
harnais at home. Presented to Montmorin. Meets the Duchess of
Orleans. M. de Malesherbes. Letter to the Marquis de la Luzerne.
Madame de Tesse's Republican salon. Hurry of life in Paris. Lafa
yette's election in Auvergne. Paupers in Paris. Morris's busy life.
Meets Madame de Flahaut. Pleasant days and evenings with charm
ing women. Dines with Necker. Madame de Stae'l. Supper with the
Baron de Besenval. Interview with the Marechal de Castries. Visit
to the statues at the Louvre. A day of misfortunes, . . 19

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER III.

Dearth of wheat at Lyons. Morris offers Necker a cargo. Graciousness of
the Duchess of Orleans. Ladies vexed by long arguments in the
salons. Ten thousand troops ordered out. Swiss guards within the
barriers. Necker1 s fall desired. Tete-a-tete dish of tea with Madame
de Segur. King and princes oppose liberty. Political talk with the
Bishop of Autun. Makes a plan of finance for France. Advises the
massing of the Swiss guards round the king's person. Election excite
ments. A water-party on the Seine. An eventful day at Versailles.
Meeting of the States-General. Magnificent spectacle. Mirabeau
hissed. The Duke of Orleans applauded. Visit to Marly. Madame
du Barry. Madame de Segur at her toilet. Petit-Trianon Gardens.
Madame de Suze's lapdog, . . . . . . . 5 1

CHAPTER IV.

Morris surprised at Parisian manners and customs. Tea in the Palais
Royal. Visit to Romainville. M. de Beaujolais. Morris writes
verses to the Duchess of Orleans. Careless driving. Made a mem
ber of the Club of Valois. Interviews with Judges. Note on the to
bacco contracts. The Dauphin's death. States-General more than
ever embroiled. Morris stands for Houdon's statue of Washington.
Strictures on the Bishop d' Autun. Visit to Raincy. The clergy
join the Tiers. The Salle des Menus closed. Bath in the Tennis
Court. Great excitement in Paris. Morris's sentiments quoted. His
interest in France. Necker offers to resign. The mob at Versailles.
Inflammatory publications at the Palais Royal. The nobles join the
other orders. Revolt among the guards. The Abbaye broken open.
The king terrified, . . . . . . . < . 85

CHAPTER V.

Grain under convoy. Tumult in Paris. Fourth of July dinner. Visit to
Romainville. Bread scarce. Paris gay. The administration routed
and Necker banished. M. de Narbonne. Mobs in the streets. Ar
morers' shops broken open. Scenes in the Palais Royal Gardens. Ter
rible night in Paris. The Hotel de P'orce broken into. Morris dons
the green bow. No carriages allowed in the streets. Affairs at Ver
sailles. A cry for arms. Carriages stopped and searched. The Bas
tille taken. Madame de Flahaut's salon. M. de Launay. Carnival
at Versailles. The Bastille in ruins. The king comes to Paris and
dons the red and blue cockade. The procession, . . .ill

CONTENTS. vii

CHAPTER VI.

Dinner at Madame de Flahaut's. Artists' studios. Dinner with Lafay
ette. Visit to the Bastille. The Club. Foulon's head carried through
the streets. Making up a foreign mail. Madame de Montmorin.
Ideas respecting a constitution for France. Asked to consult with the
ministers. Passport for London. Journey to England. Beggars.
Impressions of England, ........ 133

CHAPTER VII.

London. The Haymarket Theatre. The Marquis de la Luzerne. Trum-
bull. The refugees. LadyDunmore. The Cosways. Hon. Mrs.
Darner. Society duties. Strictures on society. Sail on the Thames.
Downe Place. Returns to Paris. Critical state of affairs. Madame
de Tesse. Lafayette. Public 'opinion sets against the National As
sembly. Finances. Scarcity of bread. The Flanders Regiment.
Social life. Prepares a memorandum on subsistence. The queen.
Madame de Flahaut. The banners blessed. The opera. Resistance
to authority among the bakers. Versailles. Question on the finances.
Mirabeau speaks in the Assembly. Meets Madame de Stael.
Conversation with Madame de Flahaut. Asked to furnish flour for
Paris, . . . 145

CHAPTER VIII.

The feast at Versailles. Consternation at Paris. Morris urges Lafayette
to attach himself to the king's party. Disturbance in Paris.
Church property discussed. Expedition to Versailles proposed in
the Palais Royal Gardens. Excited state of the people. Carriages
stopped in the streets. Agonizing night at Versailles. The royal
family brought to Paris. The heads of the Body-guard carried
through the streets. The royal family installed at the Tuileries. De
spatches opened by the mob. Clermont de Tonnerre. The Comte
de Narbonne and Madame de Stael. Dinner at Lafayette's. Conver
sation with Lafayette on the situation of France. Mirabeau. Madame
de Chastellux's salon. The Duchess of Orleans. The Bishop of
Autun reads a motion to be presented to the Assembly. A ministry
arranged, . . . . . . . . . .168

CHAPTER IX.

Deputies demand passports. The streets alive with disorderly characters.
Houses marked for destruction. Unsafe to walk about Paris. Necker

Vlll CONTENTS.

sombre and depressed. Madame de StaePs salon. The Duke of Or
leans leaves for England. Morris calls on Necker, and suggests the
idea of raising the price of bread. Letter to Lafayette. The Duke
of Orleans is stopped at Boulogne. News of insurrections. Conver
sation in Madame de Flahaut's salon about intended changes in the
ministry. Lafayette commits a blunder in offering himself to Mira-
beau. The Cardinal cle Rohan. Flour to be imported from America.
Graphic letter to Robert Morris. Madame de Flahaut disconsolate over
the reduction in pensions, 187

CHAPTER X.

Denis Frangois accused of secreting bread and beheaded. Paris aban
doned to cruelty and violence. Martial law passed by the Assembly.
The Duke of Orleans liberated. -He goes to England. At the club.
Chit-chat in Madame de Flahaut's salon. Belgrade surrenders. Anec
dote of the 5th of October. Clermont de Tonnerre proposes going
to America. Morris asked his plan for restoring order to France.
Necker unable to cope with the difficulties. Dinner at Madame
Necker's. Talk about Lafayette's connection with Mirabeau and
with Necker on plans for subsistence. News from Flanders. Asked
to take part in the administration of affairs. Dines with the Duchess
of Orleans. Takes the Bishop of Autun to visit Lafayette. The
Assembly suspends the parlements. Criticisms on the society in Ma
dame de Stael's salon. Lively dinner conversation with Madame de
Stael, ..... . . 200

CHAPTER XL

Exodus from the ranks of society. Many closed salons. Changed state
of feeling. Necker's "plan" for the Caisse d* Escompte. The Pope
quarrels with the farmers-general. Opposition to Necker. Mirabeau
describes the Assembly. Lafayette's ambition. A tedious session.
Interview with Necker. Tea at Madame de Laborde's. Plan for
dealing with the American debt to France. Necker converses on the
constitution then preparing. The Bishop d' Autun asks advice as to
speaking in the Assembly. A rumor that he is to be appointed Ameri
can Minister to the Court of Louis XVI. An evening in Madame de
Sta 1's salon. Tact of the hostess. Clermont-Tonnerre reads a dis
course. Necker speculates as to the issue of one hundred and thirty
millions of paper money. The Abbe Delille reads his own verses
in Madame de Chastellux's drawing-room, . ..... 227

CONTENTS. ix

CHAPTER XII.

The opera. Gardell and Vestris. Strictures on the character of the peo
ple of France. The Caisse Patriotique opened. Paris gay with uni
forms. People sacrifice their jewels for the public benefit. Morris
disapproves of Necker's plan of finance. Resolutions passed in the
Assembly which affect Protestants. The public debt. The king's
brother goes to the Commons. Monsieur and the Favras conspiracy.
Lafayette intriguing deeply. Morris makes punch for the society
at Madame de Vannoise's. His first suggestion of settling the
banks of the St. Lawrence. Asked for information about America.
Ceremony of saluting the ladies with a kiss on New Year's eve, . 250

CHAPTER XIII.

Comparison between the newspapers of 1777 and 1789. New Year's salu
tations. Scene at the Chatelet. Madame de Flahaut's boudoir.
Stoppage of pensions. Lively discussion thereon in Madame de
StaeTs salon. Visit to the Comte de Chastellux. Message from the
Parlement of Brittany. Morris examines table - ornaments for
Washington. Decree in the Assembly concerning office-holding.
Adherence to the constitution required. Riot in Paris. A handsome
surtout for the table sent to Washington. Need of cultivating the j^-^
taste of America. The Duchess of Orleans obliged to economize.
The Cardinal cle Rohan. The Bishop of Orleans. Marmontel.
Letter to Washington. Morris writes a note on the situation of
affairs for the king. Delivered to the queen by her physician. Anec
dote of the king. He goes to the Assembly. Conversation with
Lafayette, 262

CHAPTER XIV.

*

Journey to Antwerp. Brussels. Reflections on the state of Flanders.
Vanderhoot's committee. Notes on the cathedral and galleries of
Antwerp. Supper at M. Cornelison's. Agreeable society of Antwerp.
Notes during the journey to Amsterdam. Evening in Madame Bost's
salon. Political discussions. Force of the Dutch navy. Scene on
the Merchants' Exchange at Amsterdam. News from France of
Necker's resignation. The Hague. The churches at Delft. Crosses /^
to England. Interview with the Duke of Leeds on the treaty and
despatch of a minister to the United States. News from Paris.
Pointed opposition to Necker. Visits Sir John Sinclair. Letter to

CONTENTS.

Colonel Ternant. Meets Fox at dinner. Mrs. Jordan at Drury Lane
Theatre. Warren Hastings's trial. Criticism on Burke and Fox.
Brilliant ball at Mrs. John B. Church's, 296

CHAPTER XV.

Reticence of the Duke of Leeds. Morris's letter to the duke. Letter to
Washington. Undertakes to negotiate for the sale of American es-
' tates. Miss Farren. The impressment of American seamen. In
terview with the Duke of Leeds. Presented to Pitt. Long interview
with Pitt and the Duke of Leeds relative to the treaty of commerce,
non-payment of money due by the English Government to American
land-owners, evacuation of the frontier-posts, etc. The Hastings
trial. News from Paris. The National Assembly vote the king an
allowance. Abolition of the nobility. The Duke of Orleans in a
" whimsical " situation. Great fete of the federation. Letter to Will
iam Short at Paris. Strictures on the young men of London. Rise
of the Jacobins in Paris. Lafayette's position insecure, . .321

CHAPTER XVI.

Various undertakings in Europe. Dulness of card-playing in England.
Washington approves of Morris's communications with the ministers.
Letter to Washington on French affairs. Interview with the Duke of
Leeds. Continental tour before returning to Paris. Civilities from
persons to whom he had letters. Difficulties of travel in 1790. Un
comfortable inns and bad roads. Interview with Baron de Dolberg.
Paris again. Flatteringly received by the Comte de Montmorin.
Morris presents a dog to the Duchess of Orleans. The Due de
Castries's hotel pillaged. M. de Flahaut wishes to go to America as
minister. The play of ''Brutus." Much excitement in the theatre.
Dines with the Garde des Sceaux. Apprehends a plot of the Em
peror for liberating the queen and restoring the former government.
Criticises the new constitution. Gives his opinion of the condition
of affairs to Lafayette. The last months of 1790, . . . 342

CHAPTER XVII.

Another trip to London. Stiffness of English society. Annoying indiffer
ence of the Duke of Leeds to American interests. Returns to Paris.
Dines with the Duchess of Orleans. Ternant appointed Minister
Plenipotentiary to the United States. Conversation with M. de

CONTENTS. xi

Segur. M. de Montmorin wishes Morris appointed Minister from
the United States. Asked to confer wifh the Committee of Com
merce. Dines with Lafayette. Dines with Marmontel. Lafayette
vexed. Madame de Nadaillac. The "farm " abolished by the Assem
bly. The tobacco decrees. Desired to write a letter on them.
Letter to Washington thereupon. Some details of the affair of Octo
ber 5th at Versailles. Disturbance in Languedoc. Trepidation of
the Bishop of Autun. Great tumult in Paris. Conversation with
Madame de Nadaillac. The Chateau during the riot. Lafayette
confesses the guards were drunk. Morris's advice to him, . . 369

CHAPTER XVIII.

The queen intriguing with Mirabeau. Morris's impressions of the Abbe
Maury. Madame de Nadaillac' s salon. Madame de Tesse converted
« to Morris's political principles. Vicq d'Azyr's eulogy of Franklin.
Morris takes supper with Condorcet. Paris illuminated. First in
troduction to Lady Sutherland. Conversation with the Abbe Maury.
Death of Mirabeau. Discusses with Montmorin Mirabeau's succes
sor. Mirabeau' s impressive funeral. Strictures on his character.
Robespierre comes to the front. Morris predicts to M. cle Mont
morin the speedy dissolution of the present Assembly. A visit from
Paine. Madame de Nadaillac talks of religion and duty. Madame
de Flahaut asks advice as to marriage. Morris prepares a note for
the king on the rations for the French marine. Madame de Stael
reads her tragedy " Montmorenci." Morris gives her some advice.
Brilliant society in her salon, 389

CHAPTER XIX.

Shows M. de Montmorin draught of a letter devised as an answer from the
king to the department. The entours of the king resign. Resignation
of Lafayette. Sketch of European politics in a letter to Mr. Inglis, of
London. A republic becoming fashionable. Lady Sutherland's gra-
ciousness. Lafayette accepts the position of head of the National
Guards. Montesquiou asks Morris how to amend the constitution.
Celebration of the suppression of the octroi. Conversation with
Montmorin. Madame de Nadaillac's coquettish character. Morris
suggests to several ladies positions near the queen. Madame de Fla
haut expects one soon. Montmorin weary of the situation. Visit to
Madame de Nadaillac, ........ 4°6

xii CONTENTS.

' CHAPTER XX.

A visit to St. Cloud. Departure for England. Visit to the Duchess of
Orleans at Eu. London. The escape from the Tuileries and capt
ure at Metz. Morris returns to France. The Assembly intend to
cover the king's flight. Madame de Lafayette greatly excited. Con
versation with M. de Montmorin. Dinner with the Americans in
Paris on the Fourth of July. The fete of Voltaire. The king's
nature discussed. Decree passed declaring the inviolability of the
king. Lady Sutherland's drawing-room. What passed in the Champ
de Mars. The mob fired on. Society frightened and within doors.
Letter to Robert Morris. The king's aunts harangue the people of
Rome on the king's escape. Morris meets Lord Palmerston. Pro
nounces the French Constitution ridiculous. Consultation between
M. de Montmorin and Morris. Morris draws up a memoir e for the
king. Madame de Stael and the Constitution. Her opinion of the
memoir e Morris had prepared for the king. The Constitution pre
sented to the king, . ... . . . . . 425

CHAPTER XXI.

Convinced that Montmorin withheld the memoir e until the king had ac
cepted the Constitution. Lady Hamilton. Festival of the adoption
of the Constitution. The opera. The king and queen received with
applause. Paris illuminated. Letter to Washington on the king and
the Constitution. A coalition dinner with Madame de Stael. The
current of opinion against dropping the king's titles, Sire and Ma-
jeste. A reaction in favor of the king. Supper at Madame de
Guibert's. Long conversation with Montmorin, who says he can trust
no one but Morris. M. de Moustier attests Morris's favor with their
majesties. What passed between the King of Prussia and the Em
peror at Pilnitz. The Duke of Orleans declares his bankruptcy.
Much struggling for offices in Paris. Moustier thinks Morris mis
taken about the Constitution. M. de Montmorin declares war
against the newspapers, . • . . . . . . .451

CHAPTER XXII.

Desired to converse about subsistence at a royalist dinner. M. de Molle-
ville tells him he has proposed him as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Distress of the Montmorin family. Narbonne, Madame de Stael,
and the ministry. Supper at Lady Sutherland's. Morris gives a

CONTENTS. xiii

dinner. M. de Narbonne finally appointed Minister of War. Vicq
d'Azyr says the queen wishes Morris's ideas in writing on the de
cree against the princes. Dinner at the British ambassador's. Pre-
ville at the Comedie Frangaise. Sketching a form of government
for France. Writes a philippic against the chefs des rtpublicains.
Letter to Robert Morris on the failure to effect a commercial treaty
with Great Britain. Washington nominates Morris for the mis
sion to France. Confirmed by a very small majority in the Senate.
The king m high spirits. Letter to Washington on the paper circu
lation of France and the general anarchy. The Bishop of Autun to
go to England. The Jacobins discover a plan for violent change of
the Constitution. Morris prepares for a journey to England. Mes
sage from the queen, ......... 476

CHAPTER XXIII.

Morris goes to England. Suspicions aroused by the suddenness of his
departure. A political significance given to it. Letter to Washing
ton from London. Morris hears in London of his appointment as
Minister to France and receives his credentials. Letter to Robert
Morris on the difficulties attending the mission to France. Dines
with the Count de Woronzow. Paine's new publication. An even
ing with the Duchess of Gordon. Conversation with Woronzow.
Bishop of Au tun's mission to England. Letter to Washington on
this subject. Mrs. Darner's studio. She is at work on a statue of
the king. Morris writes a verse on her art, . . . .501

CHAPTER XXIV.

Morris returns to Paris. Hears rumors that he will not be received in his
diplomatic capacity. Makes arrangements to fulfil the requirements
of his position. News from the armies. Madame de Tarente asks of
Morris advice for the queen. Interview with the Minister of Foreign
Affairs. Conversation with Moustier. Disorder in the armies. The
king disarms his guard. Morris is presented to the king. Letter
to Jefferson. Dines with Dumouriez. Sudden change in the min
istry. Jeu de la Reine. Much movement in Paris. Guard march
ing under Morris's windows. Monciel asks his advice in this crisis.
The deputation from the faubourgs fill the Chateau and insult the
queen. Morris goes to Court. The king receives a part of the mili
tia. Lafayette arrives at Paris. Addresses the Assembly. The
queen polite to Morris, 529

xiv CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXV.

Condition of Europe in July, 1792. Letter to Jefferson. Morris opens
his house. Tells Montmorin that the king should leave Paris. Mor
ris prepares me moires for the king. Paris terrified by riots. The
king and queen distressed and in great apprehension. They expect
to be murdered at the Chateau. Morris goes to Court. Very hot
weather. Great agitation in Paris. Musketry ushers in August loth.
The Chateau undefended is carried and the Swiss guards murdered.
The king and queen are in the National Assembly. Morris's house
filled with frightened people. The ambassadors leave Paris. Mor
ris stays at his post. He tells Claviere that he has no powers to
treat with the new government. Morris's house searched. Murders
continue. Letter to Jefferson describing the Revolution, . . 551

CHAPTER XXVI.

Lafayette refuses to obey the Assembly. Leaves France and is captured.
King and queen are imprisoned in the Temple. Disorder reigns in
Paris. Murders continue. Morris hears that the Brissotine faction
desire to do him mischief. Letter to Washington. The dangers of
living in Paris. Trials of Morris's position. Retreat of the Prus
sians. Apprehension of a famine. Taking of Nice. Anxious un
certainty of Morris's life. Letter to Jefferson on the state of affairs.
Letters to friends assuring them of his well-being. Difficulty of send
ing letters safely. Letter to Alexander Hamilton. Morris becomes
aware that the French Government desire his recall, . . . 586

THE DIARY AND LETTERS

OF

GOUVERNEUR MORRIS

THE DIARY AND LETTERS

OF

GOLJVERNEUR MORRIS.

CHAPTER I.

Gouverneur Morris. Birth. Education. Graduates at King's College.
Studies law. Licensed to practise. Early development of a taste
for finance. Takes an active part in the events which ended in the
Declaration of Independence. Elected a member of the first Pro
vincial Congress in 1775. Speaks on finance. Leads in debates in
the New York Congress. Draws up instructions for Franklin, then
Minister to France. Reports to Congress on the subject of a treaty
with the British Commissioners. Practises law in Philadelphia. Ap
pointed assistant to the Superintendent of Finance. Practises his
profession after the war. Becomes known to the French Ministry
through a letter written to the Marquis de Chastellux. A delegate
to the Convention which formed the Constitution. Sails for France
in 1788.

GOUVERNEUR MORRIS was born at Morrisania—
to quote the record made by his father in the family
Bible— "On the 31 of January about half an hour after
one of the Clock in the morning, in the year 1752, accord
ing to the alteration of the style, by act of Parliament, and
was christened the 4 of May 1754, and given his mother's
name." Gouverneur's father probably discovered signs
of unusual promise in the boy ; for in his will, which is
dated November 19, 1760, is the following request : " It is
my desire that my son, Gouverneur Morris, may have the
best education that is to be had in England or America."
Lewis Morris died when his son was twelve years old, and
i

2 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. I.

the care of his education, in consequence, devolved upon
his mother. Great pains were taken that his training
should be of a kind to fit him for any career that might
open for him.

When quite a child he was placed in the family of Mon
sieur Tetar, at New Rochelle ; and here he laid the foun
dation of a thorough knowledge of the French language,
which, in after life, he spoke and wrote with much fluency
and correctness. In 1768 Morris graduated at King's Col
lege (now Columbia), and immediately after graduating
he studied law in the office of William Smith, afterwards
Chief Justice of the Province of New York, but better
known as Colonial historian of the State.

The bar was undoubtedly the profession where the
qualities of Morris's mind, his vigorous and penetrating
intelligence, were most likely to excel. His elocution
was animated and persuasive, his voice sonorous and
pleasing, his figure tall and exceedingly graceful ; all the
attributes of an orator seemed to have fallen to his share.
Ambitious to excel, full of hope, with perfect confidence
in his own powers, and therefore entire self-possession, it
was possible for him to say, with all sincerity, that in his
intercourse with men he never knew the sensations of
fear, embarrassment, or inferiority.

Licensed to practise as an attorney-at-law full three
months before he was twenty, in 1771, his ambition was to
make for himself a distinguished position at the Colonial
bar. Two years before this a series of anonymous articles
on finance, occasioned by a plan proposed^in the Assembly
of New York to issue paper money, appeared in a news
paper. They all attracted much attention — but particu
larly one deprecating the evil of a paper currency as
mischievous in its effects and wrong in principle, and
only a means of postponing the day of payment, which

I77S-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 3

should be met by substantial funds, collected from the
province.

His studies completed and his admission to the bar se
cured, Morris's thoughts and desires turned toward Eu
rope and foreign travel. " To rub off in the gay circles of
foreign life a few of those many barbarisms which char
acterize a provincial education ; to form some acquaint
ances that may hereafter be of service to me, to model
myself after some persons who cut a figure in the law,"
were some of the reasons he gave his friend William Smith
for wishing to go abroad. In further excuse of the scheme
he says : " I have somehow or other been so hurried
through the different scenes of childhood and youth, that
I have still some time left to pause before I tread the
great stage of life, and you know how much our conduct
there depends upon the mode of our education. It is
needless to add that my inclinations have taken part in
the debate." His friend evidently saw serious difficulties
in the way — principally pecuniary, for he told him that
his mother must give up much before he could have his
wish, and advised him, even when the guineas lay at his
feet, to "think ! think ! think !" The voyage was aban
doned for the time, and for the next three years Morris
applied himself closely to his profession.

These were stirring times, the colonies and the mother
country were disputing, a rupture was imminent, the port
of Boston was already closed. His aristocratic relations,
rather than, as is generally supposed, his Tory antecedents,
led him to advocate a reconciliation rather than a break with
the mother country, and in June, 1775, when this question
occupied a large share of the attention of the Provincial
Congress of New York, he was made a member of a com
mittee to draft a plan to settle all difficulties with Great
Britain. In a paper written in 1774 he says : " Taxation is

4 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. I.

the chief bar, and a safe compact seems in my poor opinion
to be now tendered — internal taxation to be left with our
selves. Reunion between the two countries is essential to
both — I say essential. It is for the interest of all men to seek
reunion with the parent State. The spirit of the English
constitution has yet a little influence left, and but a little.
The remains of it will give the wealthy people a superior
ity this time, but would they secure it, they must banish
all schoolmasters, and confine all knowledge to themselves.
This cannot be — the mob begin to think — the gentry be
gin to fear this— their committee will be appointed — they
will deceive the people and again forfeit a share of their
confidence. And if these are instances of what with one
side is policy, with the other perfidy, farewell aristocracy.
I see, and I see it with fear and trembling, that if the dis
putes with Britain continue, we shall be under the worst of
all possible dominions — the dominion of a riotous mob ! "
When the crisis finally came, Morris, illustrating the
justice of Madison's subsequent eulogy of him, namely,
that "to the brilliancy of his genius was added what is
too rare, a candid surrender of his opinions, when the
lights of discussion satisfied him," came promptly for
ward to aid his country in the struggle, and from that
moment he was to be found among the patriots who were
bravest arid most constant. ( He was already an expert in
finance, and at once rendered most efficient service in
drawing up a plan to raise money for the expenses of the
army, and other military operations. This subject was
one of the first and most important which occupied the at
tention of the members of the first Provincial Congress of
New York, to which he was elected a member in 1775.
The extent of his knowledge of this exceedingly intricate
subject surprised his fellow-workers on the committee, and
when the report was read, before a large audience of in-

1776.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 5

terested persons, he spoke with a remarkable force and
eloquence. His dignity and persuasive manner strongly
appealed to the sympathy of his audience, and the young
orator of twenty-three carried off the honors of the day.
The report as it came from his pen was forwarded to the
Continental Congress and adopted without amendment
or change. )

^Matters had by this time come to such a pass, between
England and her colonies, that in May of this year, 1776,
the Continental Congress recommended to the various
assemblies and conventions of the colonies, the adoption
of such regular constitutions and forms of government as
might best suit their several needs. In the third New
York Congress, then assembled, Morris took the lead in
the debates relative to the adoption of a new form of gov
ernment. The Tory element in the Congress still feared
to take any decided step that might show absolute disloy
alty to the King. And among the many wealthy families
owning large estates and with Tory proclivities, there
was still a hope of at least a patched-up reconciliation
with Great Britain. Up to this time, indeed, the question
of independence had seemed scarcely a serious one. But
Morris earnestly favored in the Congress the formation
of a new government. He believed that the time had
come to take such a step ; that the dignity of a free people
had been outraged by the oppressions of England ; that
to submit longer would be a crime against justice and a
mockery of liberty. Fragments of a speech made by him
during the course of the debates still exist, in which he
touched upon the already hackneyed theme of reconcilia
tion as the phantom which had long deluded the fancy
of his associates in the Congress. "A connection with
Great Britain cannot exist, and independence is absolutely
necessary. . . . We run a hazard in one path I con-

6 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. I.

fess, but then we are infallibly ruined if we pursue the oth
er. ... Some, nay many, persons in America dislike
the word Independence ; for my own part I see no reason
why Congress is not full as good a word as States-General
— or Parliament ; and it is a mighty easy matter to please
people when a single sound will effect it. . . . It is quite
a hackneyed topic boldly insisted on, though very lightly
assumed, that the instant an American independence is
declared we shall have all the powers of Europe on our
backs. Experience, sir, has taught those powers and will
teach them more clearly every day, that an American war
is tedious, expensive, uncertain, and ruinous. Nations do
not make war without some view. Should they be able
to conquer America, it would cost them more to maintain
such conquest, than the fee simple of the country is worth."
He made a strong appeal for the political liberty of the
country, which he thought might be secured by the sim
plest contrivance imaginable — "dividing the country into
small districts, the annual election of members to Con
gress, and every member incapacitated from serving more
than one year out of three. Why should we hesitate ?
Have you the least hope in treaty ? Will you trust the
Commissioners ? Trust crocodiles, trust the hungry wolf
in your flock or a rattlesnake near your bosom, you may
yet be something wise. But trust the King, his Ministers,
his Commissioners, it is madness in the extreme. Why
will you trust them? Why force yourself to make a daily
resort to arms ? Is this miserable country to be plunged
in an endless war ? Must each revolving year come heavy
laden with those dismal scenes which we have already wit
nessed ? If so, farewell liberty, farewell virtue, farewell
happiness ! "

With the crisis in the affairs of the colonies in 1776, pub
lic sentiment in New York underwent a change, and five

1776.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 7

days after the Declaration of Independence the Congress
of that Colony declared their intention to support that inde
pendence at all risks. When the Constitution of the State
of New York was made, in August, 1776, Morris labored
to introduce into it an article prohibiting domestic slavery,
but he was not successful. A letter to his mother in this
year expressed the deep feeling with which the prospect
of the war filled him. "What may be the event of the
present war," he says, "it is not in man to determine.
Great revolutions of empire are seldom achieved without
much human calamity, but the worst which can happen is
to fall on the last bleak mountain of America, and he who
dies there, in defense of the injured rights of mankind, is
happier than his conqueror, more beloved by mankind,
more applauded by his own heart."

After the new Constitution of New York had been
adopted, Morris was elected a delegate to the Continen
tal Congress, but owing to the critical state of affairs in
his own State he was unable to attend. In October he
was elected a second time. He had been in public life
for nearly three years and had established a reputation
for talents of no ordinary kind. Congress honored him
the day he presented his credentials by appointing him
one of a committee of five of great importance. The army
with Washington at Valley Forge were discouraged and
demoralized by the terrible winter, and there, in concert
with the general-in-chief, a plan was prepared to reor
ganize the army, clothe and feed them, and regulate the
medical department. Approved and adopted by Con
gress, the effects of the plan were soon manifest. Dur
ing this winter which Morris spent at Valley Forge he
formed a life-long and intimate friendship with Washing
ton. After the occupation of New York by the British, he
had been entirely cut off from his home at Morrisania ;

8 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. I.

and the strong Tory proclivities of his friends subjected
him to suspicion on the part of certain mischief-making
persons. Mr. Jay wrote to him from Philadelphia :
" Your enemies talk much of your Tory connections.
Take care, do not unnecessarily expose yourself to cal
umny and perhaps indignity." In reply Morris says, "As
to the malevolence of individuals, it is what I have to
expect, and is by no means a matter of surprise. But by
laboring in the public service, so as to gain the applause
of those whose applause is worth gaining I will have my
revenge." It was whispered abroad by his enemies that
Morris's letters to his mother, which had to pass through
the British lines before they reached her, contained mat
ter other than that intended for her and to the advantage
of the enemy.

A curious history is told of a letter written to Mr. Mor*
ris, in 1775, by his brother-in-law in London, express
ing his interest in Morris's career, bidding him deserve
well of his country, and endeavor to insure peace and pre
serve good order. " The most vigorous preparations," he
continued, warningly, " are making to carry on the war.
The nation is united, although the pulse does not beat so
high as if they were waging war against a foreign enemy."
Detained at New York because addressed to a rebel, then
sent to Halifax, the letter was thence despatched to New
York by a vessel which was lost off the coast of New
Jersey. The mail-bag drifted on the coast, and the letter
found its way to Burlington, N. J. Morris heard of its
existence and asked for it, but a mystery surrounded it,
and its contents had something suspicious about them in
the opinion of those who had read it. Eventually it was
forwarded to Morris by the President of Pennsylvania,
who had been prejudiced after reading it, although, dur
ing the three years that it had been drifting about, all

I778-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 9

Morris's energies had been given to resisting Great Britain
and making the government secure. The letter is still
preserved at Morrisania.

His letters to his mother were few and unimportant.
In 1778 he wrote to her that since he had left Morrisania
he had never heard directly from her, and " never had the
satisfaction of knowing that of the many letters I have
written, you have ever received one. It would give me
infinite pleasure," he adds, " to hear of my friends, your
self in particular. But since it is my lot to know no more
than the burthen of general report I must be contented.
I received great pain from being informed that you are
distressed on my account. Be of good cheer I pray you,
I have all that happiness which flows from conscious rec
titude. I would it were in my power to solace and com
fort your declining years. The duty I owe to a tender
parent demands this of me ; but a higher duty has bound
me to the service of my fellow creatures. The natural in
dolence of my disposition, has unfitted me for the paths of
ambition, and the early possession of power has taught
me how little it deserves to be prized. Whenever the
present storm subsides I shall rush with eagerness into
the bosom of private life, but while my country calls for
the exertion of that little share of abilities which it has
pleased God to bestow on me, I hold it my indispensable
duty to give myself to her. I know that for such senti
ments, which are not fashionable among the folks you see,
I am called a rebel. I hope that your maternal tenderness
may not lead you to wish that I would resign these senti
ments. Let me entreat you, be not concerned on my ac
count ; I shall again see you — perhaps the time is not far
off. Hope the best. Adieu."

Three years after this Mrs. Morris was dangerously ill.
He earnestly desired to go to her, and she as earnestly de-

10 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. I.

sired to see her only son. But public opinion of both
friends and foes was so strong against his making the visit
that it was never made. Indeed, in order that his motives
for contemplating this visit might be publicly known, he
published a letter in the Freeman's Journal in which he
plainly stated what may be called his " position " in these
difficult circumstances, as follows: "In the year 1776 I
left all for the sake of those principles which have justified
and supported the revolution. This sacrifice was made
without hesitation or regret, but it gave me real concern
to leave an aged parent at the mercy of the enemy. It is
true, I was for some time honored by my countrymen be
yond my desert and beyond my ambition. When our pros
pects were very gloomy, I was deeply engaged in public
business of an intricate nature, and placed in a variety of
arduous and critical situations. I have thought much,
labored much, suffered much. In return I have been cen
sured, reproached, slandered, goaded by abuse, blackened
by calumny, and oppressed by public opinion. I have de
clined many pressing solicitations to visit my mother
within the enemy's lines. But when a violent disease en
dangered her life, and I learnt of her anxiety to see me
before her eyes were closed forever, I promised to go.
The necessary passport of the British general was ob-?
tained, but not the permission of the President and Coun
cil of the State of Pennsylvania. But since my intentions
are disagreeable to you, I will persist no longer. Having
already devoted the better part of my life to your service,
I will now sacrifice my feelings to your inclinations."
After an absence of seven years, and only when peace
was concluded, did Morris return to his mother, and his
home. He reached Morrisaniain time to help his mother
prepare her claim of the estate for damages done there
to by the British army. Besides the large number of

1778] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. II

animals taken for food, timber had been cut on four hun
dred and seventy acres of woodland for ship-building, ar
tillery, and firewood. The claim amounted to ^8,000,
but it was not paid during Mrs. Morris's life-time.

In October, 1778, Morris was intrusted with the task of
drawing up the first instructions ever sent to an Amer
ican minister. Dr. Franklin was then at the Court of
Versailles. When the report of the American Commis
sioners abroad came in 1778, Morris was elected chair
man of a committee of five to consider and report upon
the so-called conciliatory propositions of Lord North of
fering to abandon the vexed point of taxation and to send
commissioners to treat with the Americans. Morris drew
up the report which declared that the United States could
not treat with any commissioners from Great Britain un
less British fleets and armies should be withdrawn and
the independence of the United States acknowledged.
This report, the most important during the war, was unan
imously adopted by the Continental Congress and became
the basis of the peace. As the time approached for the
expiration of his term in Congress, rumors reached him
that a scheme had been set on foot to defeat his re-elec
tion, principally on the ground that he had neglected the
interests of his State for those of the general Government.
He was advised to make a visit to the State legislature
and attend to his interests there. This he did, but too
late ; he lost his election.

It is much to be regretted that he has left no record
of his relations with the Government during these years,
but from the multiplicity of his labors it seems remarkable
that he could have found time to devote to the necessary
practice of his profession. Years afterward, when applied
to for some written account of the events of the Revolu
tion in which he personally took part, he says : " I have

12 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. I.

no notes or memorandum of what passed during the war.
I led then the most laborious life which can be imagined.
This you will readily suppose to have been the case when
I was engaged with my departed friend Robert Morris, in
the office of finance, but what you will not so readily sup
pose is, that I was still more harassed while a member of
Congress. Not to mention the attendance from n to 4 in
the house, which was common to all, and the appoint
ments to committees, of which I had a full share, I was at
the same time Chairman, and of course did the business,
of the Standing Committees ; viz., on the commissary's,
quartermaster's, and medical Departments. You must not
imagine that the members of these committees took any
share or burden of the affairs. Necessity, preserving the
democratical forms, assumed the monarchical substance of
business. The Chairman received and answered all letters
and other applications, took every step which he deemed
essential, prepared reports, gave orders, and the like, and
merely took the members of a committee into a chamber
and for form's sake made the needful communications, and
received their approbation which was given of course. I
was moreover obliged to labor occasionally in my own
profession as my wages were insufficient for my support.
I would not trouble you, my dear sir, with this abstract of
my situation, if it did not appear necessary to show you
why, having so many near relations of my own blood in
our armies, I kept no note of their services. Nay I could
not furnish any tolerable memorandum of my own exist
ence during that eventful period of American history."

After five years of active work in public affairs, Mor
ris could not entirely dissociate himself from the great
events of the day, and although, when he lost his elec
tion to Congress, he became a citizen of Philadelphia
and settled down to the practice of his profession, his

1780.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 13

mind was still actively interested in the deplorable finan
cial condition of the country, and he found time to write
a series of essays in the Pennsylvania Packet, signed " An
American." In these essays he discusses the currency,
the coinage, the undesirability of a compulsory fixed value
for paper money, and the banks of America ; and it would
be difficult to find a more comprehensive view of the
financial proceedings of the old Congress, and the effects
of the paper currency, than these essays contain.

In Philadelphia in May, 1780, while trying to control
a pair of runaway horses, Morris was thrown from his
phaeton, dislocated his ankle, and fractured the bones of
his left leg. The two physicians who were called to him
recommended an immediate amputation as the only means
of saving his life, and, although this must have been
a painful alternative for so young a man to contemplate,
he submitted to the decree of the doctors with philosophy
and even cheerfulness, and to the operation with extreme
fortitude. The leg was taken off below the knee, and the
operation has been cited by physicians knowing the par
ticulars as most unskilful and hasty. The day after it
took place a friend called upon him, full of sympathy and
prepared to offer all the possible consolation on an event
so melancholy. He painted in vivid words the good effect
that such a trial should produce on his character and
moral temperament, enlarging on the many temptations
and pleasures of life into which young men are apt to
be led, and of the diminished inducement Morris would
now have to indulge in the enjoyment of such pleasures.
"My good sir," replied Mr. Morris, "you argue the matter
so handsomely and point out so clearly the advantages of
being without legs, that I am almost tempted to part with
the other." Morris seems to have felt the force of his
friend's arguments in regard to the balancing effect on his

14 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. I.

character of the loss of a portion of his person, for to an
other friend, also deeply sympathetic and full of regret
that he should have met with so grave a misfortune, he
remarked : " Sir, the loss is much less than you imagine ; I
shall doubtless be a steadier man with one leg than with
two." For the remainder of his life he wore a wooden
leg, of primitive simplicity, not much more than a rough
oak stick with a wooden knob on the end of it.

This simple contrivance, however, suited him better
than any of more elaborate construction which he after
wards tried in Paris and London. Owing to this accident,
when he was presented at Court at Paris he asked to be
allowed to appear without a sword, and, though a serious
departure from court etiquette, the favor was granted.
During one of the years of his ministry in Paris, when
carriages were abolished as being aristocratic, and the
chances were against the escape of any person discovered
driving in one, Morris, who seems always to have de
fied the mob though by no means averse to saving his
life, drove through the streets followed by hoots and
cries of, " An aristocrat," and, quietly opening the door
of his carriage, thrust out his wooden leg, and said : "An
aristocrat ! yes, truly, who lost his leg in the cause of
American liberty ;" whereat followed great applause from
the mob.

When Robert Morris was made Superintendent of Fi
nance, and Congress provided for an Assistant Superin
tendent, knowing intimately the character and abilities of
his friend Gouverneur Morris, he at once made choice of
him to fill the position. Together they labored to estab
lish public credit and confidence, and with the small sum
of four hundred thousand dollars they established, and
Congress incorporated, the " Bank of North America."
Gouverneur Morris says, in a letter to a friend not long

1783-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 15

before his death : " The first bank in this country was
planned by your humble servant."

The serious charge was made against Morris, during
the years of his connection with the Finance Department,
that he was a monarchist and had advocated using the
army to establish such a form of government. In a let
ter to General Nathaniel Greene, in 1781, he says : "Ex
perience must at last induce the people of America if the
war continues to entrust proper powers to the American
Sovereign, having compelled that Sovereign reluctantly to
relinquish the administration and entrust to their ministers
the care of this immense republic. I say if the war con
tinues or does not continue, I have no hope that the Gov
ernment will acquire force ; and I will go further, I have
no hope that our Union can subsist except in the form of
an absolute monarchy, and this does not seem to consist
with the taste and temper of the people. From the same
attachment to the happiness of mankfnd, which prompted
my first efforts in this revolution, I am now induced to
wish that Congress may be possessed of much more author
ity than has hitherto been delegated to them." He feared
war between the States, " for near neighbors are very rarely
good neighbors," and advocated a centralization of power ;
but his actions, as well as writings, are his best vindication
from any wish to forma monarchy in America. His creed
was rather to form the government to suit the condition,
character, manners, and habits of the people. In France
this opinion led him to take the monarchical view, firmly
believing that a republican form of government would not
suit the French character.

After the war was over, Morris retired from the position
of Assistant to the Superintendent of the Finances of the
United States and again betook himself to the practice
of the law, intending to settle at New York ; but various

l6 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. I.

ties of business kept him in Philadelphia and more or less
associated with Robert Morris, sometimes acting as his
agent, sometimes on his own account. Together they de
vised plans and projects, new adventures of many kinds
which promised success and pecuniary advancement. As
early as 1782 Congress had instructed Robert Morris to
report on the foreign coin then circulating in the United
States. A letter with a full exposition of the subject was
sent to Congress, officially signed by Robert Morris, but
written, as Mr. Jefferson said, by the Assistant Superin
tendent of Finance. The most interesting part of this
report was a new plan for an American coinage, which
originated with Gouverneur Morris, and which was, in
fact, the basis of the system now in use. In 1784 it is
worth noting that Morris became known to the French
Ministry through two letters written to the Marquis de
Chastellux in regard to the commercial relations between
France and the United States, but particularly the West
India trade. M. de Chastellux says : "Your letters have
been communicated to M. le Marechal de Castries, Minis
ter of Marine, who is delighted with them ; he told me that
he had seen nothing superior or more full of powerful
thought on the subject of government and politics."

In 1786 his mother, who had been an invalid for several
years, died. By his father's will the estate of Morrisania,
after the death of Mrs. Morris, devolved upon the second
son, Staats Long Morris, who had married in England
the Duchess of Gordon, and was a general in the British
army. Lewis, the eldest son, had received his portion be
fore his father's death, and, under his father's will General
Morris, when he should become possessed of the prop
erty, was to pay a legacy of ^7,000 to the other children.
Of this sum ^2,000 were to come to Gouverneur. Gen
eral Morris was quite willing to part with Morrisania,

1787-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 1 7

never intending to live there, and Gouverneur determined
to make the purchase. By the aid of loans and accommo
dations he became possessed of this estate and part of the
general's lands in New Jersey. Commercial adventures,
large shipments of tobacco to France, and other under
takings had already laid the foundation of a fortune.

In 1787, as a delegate from Pennsylvania, of which
State he was, after a seven years' residence, considered a
citizen, Morris took his seat in the Convention assem
bled for the great task of framing the Federal Consti
tution. But here again he made no notes, and left no
account of his personal action in the Convention. In a
letter to Colonel Pickering, written two years before his
death, he says : " While I sat in the Convention my mind
was too much occupied with the interests of our country
to keep notes of what we had done ; my faculties were
on the stretch to further our business, remove impedi
ments, obviate objections and conciliate jarring opin
ions." President Madison, in a letter to Jared Sparks,
bears testimony to his endeavor to preserve harmony, and
to his active and able assistance in that difficult and
momentous work. " He certainly," says Madison, "did
not incline to the democratic side, but contended for a
senate elected for life," the suffrage to be given only to
freeholders, and property to be represented. He vigor
ously opposed slavery, moved to insert the word "free"
before " inhabitants," and denounced the slave system as
a " nefarious institution, the curse of Heaven on all the
states in which it prevails," boldly asserting that he never
would concur in upholding the institution. In the same
letter Madison says: "The finish given to the style and
arrangement of the constitution fairly belongs to the
pen of Mr. Morris. A better choice could not have been
made, as the performance of the task proved. The talents

1 8 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. I.

and taste of the author were stamped on the face of it."
Morris speaks in a manly way of the Constitution in a let
ter to a gentleman in France : "You will, ere this," said
he, "have seen the Constitution proposed for the United
States. I have many reasons to believe that it was the
work of plain, honest men, and such I think it will ap
pear. Faulty it must be, for what is perfect ? Should it
take effect, the affairs of this country will put on a much
better aspect than they have yet worn, and America will
soon be as much respected abroad as she has for some
time past been disregarded."

During the winter of 1787 Morris was in Virginia super
intending the mercantile affairs in which he and Robert
Morris were jointly interested. It was necessary to have
an agent on the spot who understood the business, to
manage the shipment of tobacco to France, for which
large contracts had been taken by the farmers-general.
In November, 1788, Morris determined to take his "de
parture from Philadelphia for the Kingdom of France,"
he wrote to General Washington, who supplied him with
letters of introduction to many persons, giving him also
several commissions to execute for himself. Among them
was one to purchase in Paris a gold watch for his own
use. "Not a small, trifling nor a finical, ornamental one,
but a watch well executed in point of workmanship, large,
flat, and with a plain, handsome key," were the instruc
tions. Morris sailed from Philadelphia in the ship Hen
rietta, and passed the Capes of Delaware on the i8th of
December, 1788.

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 19

CHAPTER II.

Morris Lands at Havre. Goes to Paris. Letter to the French minister
in America. State of Paris. Washington's commission. Letter to
William Carmichael. Society life. Madame de Chastellux's salon
and others. Paris on the eve of the Revolution. Madame de Beau-
harnais at home. Presented to Montmorin. Meets the Duchess of
Orleans. M. de Malesherbes. Letter to the Marquis de la Luzerne.
Madame de Tesse's Republican salon. Hurry of life in Paris. Lafa
yette's election in Auvergne. Paupers in Paris. Morris's busy life.
Meets Madame de Flahaut. Pleasant days and evenings with charm
ing women. Dines with Necker. Madame de Stael. Supper with the
Baron de Besenval. Interview with the Marechal de Castries. Visit
to the statues at the Louvre. A day of Misfortunes.

ON Tuesday, the 2yth of January, 1789, after a tem
pestuous voyage of forty days, the Henrietta en
tered the port of Havre. After landing, Morris at once
sought out the persons who were engaged with Rob
ert Morris in the tobacco and flour contracts, and the
business he had undertaken for his friend was pushed
forward with all the energy which was one of his strong
est characteristics. Part of his work during the few days
he spent at Havre was investigating the chances for specu
lation in wheat, of which there was, at the moment, he
wrote, "an actual scarcity and a still greater expected."
He immediately conceived and communicated to William
Constable & Co., of New York, with whom he was in spe
cial partnership, a plan "for purchasing all the wheat on
Hudson's river," and entered into arrangements by which
it should reach France at the moment of the greatest de-

20 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. II.

mand — " thereby raising the price on the other side of the
Atlantic." By the 3d of February he was in Paris, and
settled at the Hotel Richelieu, Rue de Richelieu. In his
early letters and diary he says nothing whatever of his
impressions of Paris — his entire attention and time were
given to finding out from the firms of Le Normand and
Bourdieu the reason of their failure to accept large con
signments of tobacco for which they had contracted, and
why his friend should be placed in a " situation unex
ampled for a man of his property." )

His first allusion to Paris and public affairs in France
is in a letter to the Comte de Moustier,* then in America,
in which he speaks of the cordial reception the count's
letters had procured him.

" The more I see of Paris," he wrote, " the more sensi
ble I am of your sacrifice in leaving it to traverse a great
ocean, and establish yourself with a people as yet too new
to relish that society which forms here the delight of life.
For devoting thus to the public service both your time
and enjoyments, you have as yet been poorly recom
pensed. Your nation is now in a most important crisis,
and the question, Shall we have a constitution or shall
will continue to be law ? employs every mind and agitates

*Eleonor- Francois, the Marquis de Moustier, arrived in America as minis
ter from France at the close of the year 1787. He was rich and close though
lavish in display, and showed less tact in dealing with Americans than his
predecessors had done, and was consequently less liked. His sister, Madame
de Brehan, with her son, accompanied him to this country. A letter from
John Armstrong to General Gates says of Moustier: "We have a French
minister here with us, and if France had wished to destroy the little remem
brance that is left of her, and her exertions in our behalf, she would have
sent just such a minister. Distant, haughty, punctilious, and entirely gov
erned by the caprices of a little singular, whimsical, hysterical old woman
whose delight is in playing with a negro child and caressing a monkey." M.
de Moustier illuminated his house (in Broadway, near the Bowling Green)
splendidly in honor of Washington's inauguration, and gave a grand ball to
the President and his suite.

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 21

every heart in France. Even voluptuousness itself arises
from its couch of roses and looks anxiously abroad, at the
busy scene to which nothing can now be indifferent.
Your nobles, your clergy, your people, are all in motion
for the elections. A spirit which has lain dormant for
generations starts up and stares about ignorant of the
means of obtaining, but ardently desirous to possess the
object, consequently active, energetic, easily led, but, alas,
easily, too easily, misled. Such is the instinctive love
of freedom which now boils in the bosom of your coun
try, that respect for his sovereign, which forms the dis
tinctive mark of a Frenchman, stimulates and fortifies
on the present occasion those sentiments which have
hitherto been deemed most hostile to monarchy. For
Louis the Sixteenth has himself proclaimed from the
throne, a wish that every barrier should be thrown down
which time or accident may have opposed to the general
felicity of his people. It would be presumptuous in me
even to guess at the effect of such causes, operating on
materials and institutions of which I confess to you the
most profound ignorance.

" I feel that I have already gone too far in attempting
to describe what I think I have perceived. But before I
quit the subject I must express the wish, the ardent wish,
that this great ferment may terminate not only to the
good but to the glory of France. On the scenes which
her great theatre now displays, the eyes of the universe
are fixed with anxiety. The national honor is deeply
interested in a successful issue. Indulge me also, I pray,
in conveying the opinion that until that issue is known,
every arrangement both foreign and domestic must feel a
panic. Horace tells us that in crossing the sea we change
our climate not our souls. I can say what he could not ;
that I find on this side the Atlantic a strong resemblance

22 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. II.

to what I left on the other — a nation which exists in
hopes, prospects, and expectations — the reverence for
ancient establishments gone, existing forms shaken to
the foundation, and a new order of things about to take
place, in which, perhaps even to the very names, all for
mer institutions will be disregarded.

"To judge of the present turmoil I can give you no
better standard than by telling you, what is seriously true,
that when I took up the pen it was to give you news of
your friends, and to describe the impression made on my
mind by the objects which necessarily present themselves
in this great capital, I will not say of France, but of
Europe. And have I done it ? Yes, for the one great
object in which all are engaged has swallowed up, like the
rod of Aaron in Egypt, every other enchantment by which
France was fascinated."

It must have been a curious and melancholy spectacle
which Paris presented to a thoughtful man and a for
eigner ; one, too, just from a society very new and decid
edly affected by the Quaker element. The convulsion
which was already shaking society to its foundation every
where disturbed the atmosphere. Intrigues, social and
political, were rife ; the Court was sinking in a quicksand
of pleasure. The king struggled, in a feeble way, to raise
the moral standard, but not to any extent could he purify
the Court, and only for the moment could he pacify the
indignant and starving multitude who clamored outside
the palace-gates. Fatigued with pleasure, bored with ev
erything, the young men recklessly accumulated debts,
solely, it would seem, in the hope of amusing themselves.
But Paris was gay, full of men and things to interest and
amuse. Philosophers, patriots, men of letters, rioters,
beautiful women, clever and witty, leaders of society and
politics, were all there. Everything, nearly, could be found

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 23

in Paris, "but scavengers and lamps," as Arthur Young
said. The streets were narrow and without foot-pave
ments ; they were dirty and crowded. "To walk through
them was toil and fatigue to a man and an impossibility
to a well-dressed woman," says Young again. One-horse
cabriolets abounded, driven recklessly by young men of
fashion, endangering life and limb. Persons of moderate
means, unable to own carriages, were forced by the mud
and filth to dress in black, with black stockings. This cir
cumstance alone marked strongly the line between the
man of fortune and the man without. Public opinion had
somewhat modified the dress of the ladies, and the enor
mously high structure which had been supposed to adorn
the female head during the Regency changed, in 1780, to
a low coiffure, started by the queen, and called the "coif
fure a 1'enfant." Four years later the chapeau " a la caisse
d'escompte, chapeau sans fond comme cette caisse," * came
into fashion. Having lost the elevated head-dress, than
which nothing could be more grotesque, the dress-makers
proceeded to deform nature in another way, and the enor
mous poches came into vogue which made a woman look
like a " Hottentot Venus "f destroying nature's form.
Extremely high heels, much rouge, and many mouches
were supposed to heighten their beauty. The men, sword
at the side, hat under the arm, with very trim, high-heel
shoes, braided or embroidered coats, powdered hair caught
together at the back in a small bag, called a bourse, and
with two watch-chains, on the ends of which hung a vast
number of charms, or breloques, were to be seen in the
street carrying themselves with much stiffness and pride.
This bearing, however, changed speedily on entering the
antechamber. "A marvellous suppleness attacked their
backs, a complacent smile succeeded the severe one, their

* Dulaure : Histoire de Paris. t Ibid.

24 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. II.

conversation was full of adulation and baseness." * By
the year 1791 the seriousness, not to say the terrors of the
Revolution, had eradicated much of this nonsense ; etiquette
and ceremonial lost their power ; the women abandoned
high heels and powder, and the men put their hats on
their heads, gave up powder, wore their hair naturally,
and only carried swords in defence of their country. Even
the form of ending a letter changed, with the levelling in
fluence of the times, from the very adulatory and elaborate
method to simple " salutations amicales " or "assurances
d'estime ; " "le respect" was reserved for women of high
position and old people, f

In strong contrast to the mincing fine gentleman, pick
ing his way through the mire and filth of the streets, was
the pauper element. This was enormously represented —
a stormy, riotous mob, ready for anything, and employing
their time begging and singing rhymes in honor of the third
estate. From the Palais Royal newspapers advocating
the rights of the third party literally flowed, and found a
large reading-public ready to receive them. In the month
of June pamphlets were in all hands ; " even lackeys are
poring over them at the gates of hotels." J "A little
later, every hour produced something new. Thirteen came
out to-day, sixteen yesterday, arid ninety last week." §

These tracts were spread through the provinces : and
nearly all of them, teeming with levelling and seditious
principles, advocated liberty, and violence against the
nobles and clergy. Only two or three pamphlets on the
other side had merit enough to be known.

As early as February, 1789, Necker avowed that " obedi
ence is not to be found anywhere, and that even the troops
are not to be relied on." This state of things in Paris

* Dulaure : Histoire de Paris. t Ibid.

t Ibid. § Arthur Young.

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 25

ushered in the meeting of the States-General, called, after
the lapse of one hundred and sixty years, to work seem
ingly impossible reforms, and to frame a constitution
under which France should be free and happy.

The commission with which General Washington had
intrusted Morris was his first care, and he at once ap
plied for information to Mr. Jefferson, then American
Minister at Versailles ; and in a letter to Washington he
tells him this, and that the man who had made Madison's
watch was a rogue, and recommended him to another,
namely, Romilly. "But as it might happen that this also
was a rogue, I inquired at a very honest man's shop, not a
watchmaker, and he recommended Gregson. A gentleman
with me assured me that Gregson was a rogue, and both
of them agreed that Romilly is of the old school, and he
and his watches out of fashion. And to say that of a man
in Paris is like saying he is an ordinary man among the
Friends of Philadelphia. I found at last that M. L'Epine
is at the head of his profession here, and, in consequence,
asks more for his work than anybody else. I therefore
waited on M. L'Epine and agreed with him for two watches
exactly alike, one of which will be for you and the other
for me."

Turning to public affairs, he continues : " Our new Con
stitution has greatly raised our reputation in Europe,
but your appointment and acceptance would go far to fix
the general opinion of the fact. By the bye, in the mel
ancholy situation to which the poor King of England has
been reduced, there were, I am told, (in relation to you)
some whimsical circumstances. His first outset was to
seize Mr. Pitt by the collar and with outrageous language
addressed to the Rebel General, had nearly strangled him
before he could get help. Afterwards the Defender of the
Faith, in one of his caprices, conceived himself to be no

26 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. II.

less a personage than George Washington at the head of
the American Army. This shows that you have done some
thing or other which sticks most terribly in his stomach.
And the Prince of Wales I am told intends, (no doubt from
filial piety and respect) to be very good friends with the
country and the man who have turned his father's head."
His next letter was addressed to Mr. Carmichael, the
American minister at Madrid and an old friend. He ex
presses his attachment to him and desire to fly to him,
if he were not restrained by important objects, to be at
tended to at once. He says : " You intimate a desire to
know my situation and intentions. For the former it is
simply this : by acquiring property I have placed myself
in the common situation of desiring more, — but with the
same frankness with which I avow that desire, let me as
sure you that the thirst for riches has never yet vitiated
my palate. I wish not to accumulate, but to enjoy. And
age has pointed out a different path towards enjoyment
from that which delighted my youthful footsteps. In a
word, I wrish to possess what I possess in peace, and for that
purpose I want lively property. Various means are before
me. You speak of becoming an American farmer, in the
last result and as a last resource. I have ever viewed it as
my great desideratum. But let it for both of us be otium cum
dignitate. And to this end it is essential to possess a moder
ate share of fortune's favors. As soon as I can I shall pro
ceed to Holland. But I contemplate a return to this capi
tal as speedily as possible, and from hence I wish to go to
Madrid. You will calculate, however, that as the most im
portant scene enacted for many years on the European the
atre, will in the next months be displayed at this place,
I, in common with all others, have curiosity to see it.
You must also consider that I have motives stronger than
curiosity, for until the States-General shall have decided

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 2/

on the important objects for which they are convened, this
government can take no solid arrangement for anything.
Lafayette is out of town. He is gone to Auvergne to get
himself elected either for the Noblesse or the Tiers Etat.
I hope the former, for he would otherwise (in my opinion)
be too desperately estranged from his own class. As he
did not communicate to me his hesitation, I presume that
he had determined, for he made some important communi
cations just before his departure. Apropos — a term which
my Lord Chesterfield well observes all generally use to
bring in what is not at all to the purpose — apropos, then,
I have here the strangest employment imaginable. A re
publican, and just, as it were, emerged from that assem
bly which has formed one of the most republican of all
republican constitutions, I preach incessantly respect for
the Prince, attention to the rights of the nobility, and mod
eration, not only in the object but also in the pursuit of it.
All this, you will say, is none of my business, but I con
sider France as the natural ally of my country — and of
course that we are interested in her prosperity. Besides,
(to say the truth) I love France, and as I believe the King
to be an honest and good man I sincerely wish him well —
and the more so as I am persuaded that he earnestly de
sires the felicity of his people."

Letters to prominent people gave Morris at once an en
tree into the different sets of society, and invitations to
breakfasts, dinners, and suppers were not wanting. On
one occasion only he mentioned not being perfectly mas
ter of French, which he had not spoken since his school
days, but it was not long before he acquired an uncommon
facility both in writing and speaking it. One day which
he mentions seems more than full. It began with a
breakfast at M. le Normand's, where they discussed the
tobacco subject, so deeply interesting to the speculator

28 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. II.

as well as the smoker. The same day he dined with
Madame Dumolley, who included in her society the ex
tremely noisy element, the men who came on foot, and with
out the adornments of dress. Her Monday entertainments,
and small intrigues were to her the sole end and aim of the
week ; she lived for them, and the guests who were the
special favorites of the moment. Madame Dumolley had
a pleasant face and an agreeable varnish of politeness ; and
this, added to the fact that she never failed to include a
more or less vigorous love-making episode in her pur
suit after happiness, rendered her salon attractive. She
evidently exhibited a taste for horticulture, for Morris
promised to send to America for seeds and plants for her.
Later in the evening, after the play, a supper was to be par
taken of with Madame de la Caze, at whose house he met a
large party, absorbed in quinze. Here, he says : "M. de
Bersheni, for want of something else to do, asks me many
questions about America, in a manner which shows he
cares little for the information. By way of giving him
some adequate idea of our people, when he mentioned the
necessity of fleets and armies to secure us against inva
sion, I tell him that nothing would be more difficult than
to subdue a nation every individual of which, in the pride
of freedom, thinks himself a king. ' And if, sir, you should
look down on him, would say, " I am a man. Are you any
thing more ? " l All this is very well ; but there must be a
difference of ranks, and I should say to one of these peo
ple, " You, sir, who are equal to a king, make me a pair of
shoes." ' ' Our citizens, sir, have a manner of thinking
peculiar to themselves. This shoemaker would reply,
" Sir, I am very glad of the opportunity to make you a
pair of shoes. It is my duty to make shoes. I love to do
my duty." ' This manner of thinking and speaking, how
ever, is too masculine for the climate I am in."

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 29

Most of the mornings were passed in receiving visits and
writing — not only keeping up a correspondence, daily ac
cumulating, but in copying all his own letters into books
and generally sending duplicates of them to America be
sides. A letter to Robert Morris (March 2d) requested
him to send Madame Dumolley's seeds, and begged his at
tention to another object, which was to " obtain forme an
account of the American tonnage — that is, the number of
tons of the vessels of U. S. I want this for the Marechal
de Castries. This nobleman was so kind as to seek an
acquaintance with me in consequence of some letters I
had written to the late Marquis de Chastellux and which he
had translated and shown to several persons. The last of
these letters occupied him in the illness which proved
fatal, about three months ago. I forget the contents but
in my rash manner I had, it seems, given opinions about
the situation and affairs of this country which (luckily)
proved to be just. Shortly after my arrival here I received
a message from Madame de Chastellux desiring a visit to
the wife of my late friend, and speedily, as she was on the
point of lying in. I waited upon her, and two days after
received an intimation from M. de Castries that as he was
already acquainted with me through the letters above
mentioned he wished for an interview, etc. In conse
quence I waited on him. He has since asked me to din
ner, and promised to present me to M. Necker, to whom I
have not yet delivered your letter. It is thought that M.
de Castries will again be made Minister of the Marine.
He both expects and wishes for it, and he is an intimate
friend of M. Necker who, as I have already told you,
holds fast to the farmers-general. But what is of more
consequence in my eyes than situation or connection, they
are men of honor and rectitude."

The Marechal de Chastellux served under Rochambeau

3<D DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. II.

in the War for American Independence, in 1780. Madame
de Chastellux, an extremely charming and accomplished
Irishwoman, lady in waiting to the Duchess of Orleans *
and her confidential friend and companion, drew round her
those immediately connected with the Court. It was in
her salon, very shortly after his arrival in Paris, that Mor
ris met the Duchess of Orleans, the beautiful and charming
daughter of the Due de Penthievre, whose love-marriage
with the Due de Chartres, who became the Due d'Orleans
and, later, the notorious Philippe Egalite, had been hap
py until about this time, when the duke's irregularities
rendered her life sad and uncertain. With her Morris
formed a sincere and lasting friendship. Here also he
met the Comtesse de Segur, who told him at the first meet
ing that she was afraid that he " might not arrive before
she left the room." Among the six or seven grand salons
of Paris, that of Madame de Segur mtre, the natural daugh
ter of the Regent, had for years occupied a conspicuous
place ; and she, notwithstanding her age, retained all
her vivacity, charming young and old alike with her
memories and tales of the Regent's time and of her own
eventful life. Her daughter-in-law, the Marechale de Segur,
who always aided her in doing the honors, added to the
attraction of the salon by her gentle grace and charming
manner. With these queens of the salon to instruct him,
it was not long before Morris, being an apt scholar,
found himself fully initiated into the mysteries of coquetry ;
for these seductive court ladies never feared to follow
their flattering words with the "look, manner, and tone
of voice perfectly in unison with the sentiment." But
Morris was wary of such flatteries, though admitting that

* The Duchess of Orleans, wife of the Duke of Orleans, cousin to Louis
XVI., daughter of the Due de Penthievre and sister-in-law of the unfortu
nate Princesse de Lamballe.

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 31

"a pleasing error might be preferable to a disagree
able truth." In March he wrote to Washington, and
expressed his unbounded surprise at " the astonishing
spectacle" which, he said, "this country presents to one
who has collected his ideas from books and information
half a dozen years old. Everything is a ranglaise, and the
desire to imitate the English prevails alike in the cut of a
coat, and the form of a constitution. Like the English,
too, all are engaged in parliamenteering, and when we con
sider how novel this last business must be, I assure you
their progress is far from contemptible."

On Tuesday (March 3d), the salon of Madame la Com-
tesse de Beauharnais was opened to him, by an invitation
of a week's standing, to dine at three o'clock. Setting off
in great haste, to be punctual, and arriving at a quarter
past the hour, he found in the drawing-room " some dirty
linen and no fire." While the waiting-woman takes away
one, a valet lights up the other. Three small sticks in a
deep heap of ashes give no great expectation of heat. By
the smoke, however, all doubts are removed respecting
the existence of fire. To expel the smoke a window is
opened, and the day being cold I have the benefit of as
fresh air as can reasonably be expected in so large a city.
Towards 4 o'clock the guests begin to assemble, and I be
gin to suspect that as madame is a poetess, I shall have
the honor to dine with that excellent part of the species
who devote themselves to the Muses. In effect, the
gentlemen begin to compliment their respective works,
and as regular hours cannot be expected in a house
where the mistress is occupied more with the intellect
ual than the material world, I have the delightful pros
pect of a continuance of the scene. Towards five, ma-
dame steps in to announce dinner, and the hungry poets
advance to the charge. As they bring good appetites

32 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. II.

they have certainly reason to praise the feast, and I
console myself in the persuasion that for this day at
least I shall escape indigestion. A very narrow escape,
too, for some rancid butter of which the cook had been
very liberal, puts me in bodily fear. If the repast is not
abundant we have at least the consolation that there is no
lack of conversation. Not being perfectly master of the
language, most of the jests escape me ; as for the rest of
the company, each being employed either in saying a good
thing, or studying one to say, 'tis no wonder if he cannot
find time to explain that of his neighbor. They all agree
that we live in an age alike deficient in justice and in taste.
Each finds in the fate of his own works numerous instances
to justify the censure. They tell me, to my great surprise,
that the public now condemn theatrical compositions be
fore they have heard the first recitals, and to remove my
doubts, the comtesse is so kind as to assure me that this
rash decision has been made on one of her own pieces.
In pitying modern degeneracy, we rise from the table. I
take my leave immediately after the coffee, which by no
means dishonors the precedent repast, and madame in
forms me that on Tuesdays and Thursdays she is always
at home, and will always be glad to see me. While I
stammer out some return to the compliment, my heart,
convinced of my unworthiness to partake of such Attic
entertainment, makes me promise never again to occupy
the place, from which, perhaps, I had excluded a worthier
personage."

On the 5th of March Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Morris went
together to Versailles, the latter to be presented to the
Comte de Montmorin,* then Minister of Foreign Affairs,

* Saint Herene de Montmorin became Minister of the Interior in 1791.
He was condemned by the Revolutionary Tribunal, and executed in Sep
tember, 1792.

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 33

and to deliver his letters to him. He found him civil, but
in a polite way he rather intimated that " he had already
more trouble than he desires with strangers. Thence to
the Comte de Caluzem, who receives me with a degree of
hauteur I never before experienced. On reading my let
ters of introduction from his brother the Marquis, his
features and manner are at once softened into affability,
and the gout in one foot takes the blame of the prece
dent looks, which I believe had produced something cor
respondent in my features. I render the visit as short as
possible, and wait on the Comte d'Angivilliers, whose
politeness compensates in a great degree for the ministe
rial atmosphere I have just now breathed. In spite of pre
determination, my visit is too long, and thus by being
troublesome I pay a compliment, whose value he cannot
be sensible of. This visit, short as it is, and the first I
ever made to a court, has convinced me that I am not
formed to succeed there. Return to Paris and dine with
Madame de Tesse — republicans of the first feather. The
countess, who is a very sensible woman, has formed her
ideas of government in a manner not suited, I think, either
to the situation, the circumstances, or the disposition of
France, and there are many such."

The evening of this rather eventful day was passed in
the salon of Madame de Chastellux, where the Duchess of
Orleans was also whiling away an hour. "Madame de
Chastellux presents me to her Highness, informing me that
she had the goodness to permit of my reception. In the
course of the visit, her Royal Highness has the conde
scension to speak to one who is only a human being. My
morning's course has taught me the value of a few words
uttered in a gentle tone from such a character."

The reckless driving in the streets of Paris — a peculiar
ity remarked to-day by visitors to the French capital —
3

34 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. II.

Morris rather humorously ridicules in the following lines,
entitled " Paris : "

" A coachman driving furious on,
For here, to fly is quite the ton,
Thro' the thick vapors of the night,
Sees by a glimmering lamp's dim light,
Some creature stniggling in the street,
Which soon beneath his horses feet
Is trod, and there in anguish feels
The crushing of the chariot wheels.
' Villain ! ' exclaims the aged count,
' Stop ! ho ! the guard ; bougez, dismount.
The law, pardieu, shall have its course.'
(Au Commits air e?) ' He has killed my horse.'
' Seigneur,' replies the poor cocher,
' Moi, humbly I your pardon pray.
Had I supposed a horse lay there
I would have taken better care.
But by St. Jacques declare I can
I thought 'twas nothing but a mau / ' "

A dinner was given to Morris on the 7th of March by
the Baron de Montvoissieu " at the request of M. de Males-
herbes,* who is there — a pleasant, respectable old man,
whose daughter, Madame de Montvoissieu, has five fine
children. It has the effect of rendering her happy. At
least she has more the appearance than any other woman I
have seen here. M. 1'Eveque d'Arras tells me our new
Constitution is the best that has ever yet been found,
but has some faults which arise from our imitation of the
English."

M. de Malesherbes quite captivated Morris, who spoke
enthusiastically of him in a letter to the Marquis de

* Chretien Guillaume de Lamoignon de Malesherbes, a judge, philanthro
pist, and man of letters. In 1775 appointed Minister of the King's Household
and of the Police ; resigned in 1776. In 1792, when the king was arraigned by
the Convention, Malesherbes offered his services, which were accepted, but his
act was resented by the Terrorists, and he fell a victim to the guillotine.

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 35

la Luzerne, then ambassador at London. " I am in
love," he wrote, " with one of your family, and this is
not singular, for everyone else has the same passion,
though not perhaps in so great a degree. I am sure you
will not accuse me of want of taste, when I tell you that
the person in question is M. de Malesherbes. He has so
much goodness and so much serenity that it is impossible
not to feel a very sincere affection for him. I must tell
you how glad I should have been to have met you here,
where there are a thousand things in which a stranger has
need of advice, but although I much regret your absence,
yet I have too much affection for you to wish you here.
France seems to be in a situation which, terminate as it
may with respect to public affairs, cannot fail eventually
to produce dissensions in private circles. . . . Stay
where you are a little while, and when you come back you
will hardly know your country. As yet the spectacles
hold some share in the conversation, but I hear as much
politics among the ladies of Paris as ever you did among
those of Philadelphia. Republicanism is absolutely a
moral influenza, from which neither titles, places, nor even
the diadem can guard their possessor. If when the States-
General assemble their debates should be published, the
Lord preserve us from a hot summer."

Mr. Jefferson, the American minister, was just on the
eve of departure for America, and no one had as yet been
appointed in his place. "The Comte de Puisignieu,"
Morris says, " tells me that I must stay in France to fill
Jefferson's place, by which I understand a wish to discover
if I have any views and expectations. I assure him with
great truth that I have no desire to be in that place even
if it were vacant." It was not long after the evening
spent in Madame de Tesse's republican salon that Morris
was told by Madame de Lafayette that she considered him

36 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. II.

an aristocrat, and in consequence of his conversation with
Madame de Tesse — that enthusiast who had worked for
years to make a constitution for France, and was ready to
shed her last drop of blood if perchance she might see it
accepted ; and it was doubtless not a little surprising to
Morris to discover that " his ideas were too moderate for
that company."

Another surprise seems to have been the cold, uncom
fortable weather which he found, instead of the " smiling
European spring about which," he says, "so much has
been said and sung." "To-day the face of the country is
that of January, all white," he mentions in his diary, " and
from present appearances one would hardly expect the
genial spring ever to come."

The hurry of life in Paris evidently troubled him, for in
a letter to his brother (March nth) he says :

" I have one great objection to Paris, which is that I
have not a moment's time. The amusements I cannot
partake of because my business in the morning and my
engagements till midnight keep me in a perpetual hurry.
I have seen enough to convince me that a man might in
this city be incessantly employed for forty years and grow
old without knowing what he had been about. This is a
charming circumstance for those who, having nothing to
do, would otherwise be obliged to study how best to kill
old time, and who waste their hours in constant complaints
that the days of man are short and few."

During the spring the affairs of a certain Mr. Nesbitt,
who seemed to be in a chronic state of hiding from
his creditors, gave Morris more or less trouble, and no
small share of amusement, owing to various contretemps,
while seeking the presence of certain ministers " with
whom," he said, " I am utterly unacquainted." One en
counter he particularly mentioned, where he was to go to

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 37

Versailles and call upon M. DeVille Delville, and where
" I am to make the modest request that he will grant me
the favor to stop the usual course of law and justice."

A letter from Count Dillon* was to open the way to an
interview with the Minister. But it is best to let Mor
ns tell his own experience of approaching so high a per
sonage. "Arrived at Versailles," he says, " the coachman
sets me down at the door of M. de Puisegur, Minis
ter at War. After waiting for my turn I address the Min
ister by asking if he is M. DeVille Delville, to whom I
have the honor of addressing myself. He informs me
of my mistake, and as he is a man of the sword and not of
the robe, this mistake is not a small one." Finally, when
M. Delville is found and appealed to for help he refuses
to understand reason ; and the next morning the unfortu
nate Mr. Nesbitt woke Morris at any early hour, by
rushing into his chamber to escape from the officer. " I
get up," Morris says, " and endeavor to persuade this
latter to go away ; but it will not do. He has already sent
for the commissary and the guard. Presently they arrive
in their respective uniforms, and as the door is kept
bolted a locksmith is also sent for. He comes, and before
the application of his tools I inform Mr. Nesbitt of what
has passed, and he comes out. He contends that they
cannot take him, because he has not been duly summoned.
But the officer produces a certificate that he has. And
although this is certainly false, yet justice must believe
its own instruments. He sets off for the bureau and I go
and make interest for his release. Nesbitt is nevertheless
dragged to 1'Hotel de Force and detained there some

* Count Arthur Dillon, a French general, chosen a deputy to the States-
General in 1789. Later he served under Dumouriez, but was disaffected
toward the new regime and was recalled in 1793, imprisoned, and perished
on the guillotine in 1794.

38 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. II.

time. "I go to the Comte de Puisignieu to supper. Hear
that Lafayette is like to lose his election in Auvergne — a
circumstance which gives great pleasure, I find, to some
persons here. His conduct is much disapproved of, as
indeed is naturally to be expected, by all those attached
to the order of nobility. I believe he has mixed a little
too deep, for I am very much mistaken if he is not,
without knowing it himself, a much greater aristocrat than
those of the party opposed to him. In effect, as the con
stitution of this country must inevitably undergo some
change which will lessen the monarchical power, it is
clear that unless the nobles acquire a constitutional sanc
tion to some of their privileges, if will be in the power of
the ministry afterwards to confound them entirely with
the people, (according to the strange doctrine supported
by the Duke of Orleans) and the result must be either a
tyranny of one in the first instance or as a consequence of
the anarchy which would result from giving the wretched
constitution of the Pennsylvania legislature to the King
dom of France."

As to the distress among the paupers of Paris during
this spring, Morris, who fearlessly and harmlessly walked
or drove through every part of the town, observing closely
as he went, wrote to his brother, General Morris, then in
England, as follows :

" I believe your apprehensions of the sufferings of
people here from cold are not unfounded. But they
have in that respect an advantage which you did not
think of ; viz., that they are stowed so close, and in
such little cabins, that if they live through the first few
months they have an atmosphere of their own about them.
In effect, none of the beggars I have seen complain to me
of cold. They all ask for the means to get a morsel of
bread, and show by their countenance that by bread they

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 39

mean wine. And if the vintners were to interpret this
last word, the poor devils would find that it means a very
different kind of liquor. Among the objects which pre
sent themselves, doubtless some are deserving of charity,
but these are scarcely to be noticed in the crowd of pre
tenders. However, they get from me all my small change,
and I must confess, to my shame, that I give rather for
peace' sake than through benevolence. The rascals have,
I suppose, found out by studying human nature that each
man loves himself better than his neighbor, and therefore
make it his interest to give. The rich, in return, as pat
rons of industry, are vastly inattentive to these importu
nities, and by withholding their alms try to make it the
interest of the others to work rather than to beg. The
effects of habit on each are wonderful. Not long since I
saw a gentleman of my acquaintance weep at an air of an
opera, who had heard a beggar clatter his crutches in pur
suit of him for the length of a street without turning
round to look at him. 'Tis true there is a difference in the
music.

"You are right in your idea that our contest has given a
confused notion of liberty to this country, but there are
many persons here whose views are very clear and dis
tinct. It is highly probable that a constitution will be es
tablished, as free as is consistent with their manners and
situation ; in which case the King will gain more abroad
than he loses at home, if, indeed, it can be called a loss to
part with the power of doing mischief and retain only the
power of doing good. If the indisposition of the King of
England should keep their politics a little more at home,
the nation will be much happier. That preponderance
which Britain had gained during the peace, from the cir
cumstances in which other nations found themselves, and
which has led to a very dictatorial conduct that by those

4O DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. II.

same circumstances became successful, would, I fear,
have soon set the world again on fire, and it is ten to one
that her own feathers would have been singed in the gen
eral combustion."

"At supper to-night [March lyth] in the salon of the
Baron de Besenval," * the diary mentions, " M. le Comte
de Puisignieu, who has an estate in St. Dominique,
asks me to speak to M. de Malesherbes on the com
merce of the Islands. This apropos of the letter written
some years before on this subject to the Marquis de Chas-
tellux. I tell him that I have no wit to talk with their
ministers on public affairs, but if he chooses to ask my
ideas it will be my duty to give them, after his very par
ticular attention to me. In effect, I had rather leave our
affairs in the hands of our Minister, and give him my
ideas."

From this time Morris became deeply engaged in
large affairs of public interest to America and France.
In a long conversation on the i8th of March with William
Short, Secretary of the United States Legation under Jef
ferson, speculations in American bonds and the purchase
of the debt of the United States to France, were discussed
at length, and Morris expressed himself willing to take
an interest for himself and his friends, in speculations
of this kind " which are well founded — provided always
there be nothing in them prejudicial to the United States
or inconsistent with personal honor or integrity." Din
ing with M. de Malesherbes the evening of this same
day, he hinted to him " the idea of supplying the garrison
in the French Islands from America and of furnishing

* Baron de Besenval, lieutenant of the Swiss. The women, owing to his
gray hairs, had great confidence in him. He was considered the best racon
teur in the salon of Madame Jules de Polignac. He was tried for his life on
the charge of being an aristocrat and trying to fly from France, but was ac
quitted in March, 1790.

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 41

salt beef to the fleet." Certainly Morris found no dif
ficulty in filling the days with work and society duties,
if paying thirteen calls on various ladies, besides having
long conversations on the Nesbitt affair with Parker, on
the purchase of the debt to France with M. Le Coulteux *
the banker, a pleasant hour of gossip with Madame de
Chastellux, and ending the day with a supper at Madame
de Corney's, " when we have some good music," meant
anything.

" Colonel Laumoy breakfasts with me to-day," he says
in his diary for March 2ist, and we go together to Versailles,
invite ourselves to dine with the Count d'Angivilliers, and
look at the apartments in the Castle of Versailles. This
is an immense monument of the vanity and folly of Louis
Fourteenth. We see neither the King nor the Queen, but
as we come not to look for them this is no misfortune.
Like the other hangers on of the Court, we desire not
them, but theirs — with this difference, however, that we
mean to gratify curiosity, not cupidity. The King is well
lodged — the Queen's apartments I cannot see because Her
Majesty is there, but it is ten to one that I should like her
better than any other part of the furniture. Her picture,
however, by Madame Lebrun, will do as well, and perhaps
better, for it is very beautiful, doubtless as much so as the
original."

It was at Versailles in the salon of Madame Cabanis,
wife of the celebrated physiologist and physician, Pierre
Jean George Cabanis, the personal friend of Mirabeau,

*The firm of Le Coulteux de Cantaleu, bankers, of Rouen, was of great
antiquity even in the time of Louis Fourteenth, who, desirous of encourag
ing commerce and breaking down the barriers which prejudice had raised
against it, offered to give the members of the firm letters of nobility. They
refused the offer, saying that they preferred the reputation of old merchants
to that of new nobles, and would rather be at the head of one class than at
the tail of the other.

42 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. II.

and the ami de la maison of Condorcet, that Morris first
met Madame de Flahaut, the romance writer, the friend
of Montesquieu and of the Bishop of Autun. She was
at this time in the glory of her youth and attractions, with
possibly a touch of sadness about her and certainly a rare
sympathy, which, added to her thoroughly trained mind,
with its decidedly philosophical cast, gave her an uncom
mon power over men. Hers had been a strange life.
Married at fifteen to the Comte de Flahaut, then quite
fifty — who had denied himself no excess of dissipation —
she found herself coldly neglected. The Abbe Perigord,
who had performed the marriage ceremony for her, be
came her friend, companion, and instructor — for to him
she owed the opening and training of her intellect — and
he became also the father of her only child, who was
named Charles, after the abbe. But to return to the diary.
"Madame de Flahaut," Morris says, "entered the room
with her sister Madame d'Angivilliers, the wife of M.
Bellarderie d'Angivilliers, Director-General of the Navy.
She speaks English and is a pleasing woman ; if I might
judge from appearances, not a sworn enemy to intrigue."
Madame Adele de Flahaut, during the dark days of the
Revolution, received many substantial proofs of friendship
from Morris. She was destined to fly for her life and to
be made a widow by the guillotine in 1793.

Those were pleasant days and evenings in the grand
salons of the Palais Royal, and the lesser ones of Paris p
generally, before the Terror came. A change had undoubt
edly come since the time of Louis XV. There was no longer
dancing, and fewer love-making couples scattered about
the room ; large groups of people came together for more
general conversation. The gaming table was always to be
found, where one woman and an abbe tried their luck with
the dice-box ; while someone reading a book by the win-

1789.] - GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 43

dow was not an uncommon sight. "The society was
there," Goncourt says, " but not the pleasure of the salons
of the time of Louis Fifteenth." But the ladies had not, as
yet, lost their spirits by reason of the sorrows that came
later, and their natural grace of manner and mind lent a
charm to their conversation that nothing else could give.
Morris surely counted himself born under a fortunate
star to be the favored guest of such as they. In the bou
doir of the lovely Madame de Duras-Dufurt, the friend
of Madame de Stael and an authoress, he was one even
ing wholly charmed by the surroundings. " For the first
time," he says, " I have an idea of the music which
may be drawn from the harp. In the boudoir of madame,
adjoining the salon, I have the pleasure to sit for an hour
alone by a light exactly resembling twilight, the temperature
of the air brought to perfect mildness — and the sweetest
sounds. Later in the evening came a change of scene, and
a bishop from Languedoc makes tea and the ladies who
choose it stand round and take each their dish. This
would seem strange in America, and yet it is by no means
more so than the Chevalier de Louis who begged alms of
me this morning after introducing himself by his own let
ter." Going to Madame de Chastellux's one evening
(March 25th) Morris found himself among the noblesse, and
in a few moments after the Duchess of Orleans appeared.
" The duchess," he says, "is affable and handsome enough
to punish the duke for his irregularities. Madame de
Segur goes away early, as the company seem determined to
increase. The widow of the late Duke of Orleans comes
in, and at going away, according to custom, kisses the
duchess. I observe that the ladies of Paris are very fond of
each other, which gives room to some observations from her
Royal Highness on the person who has just quitted the
room, which show that the kiss does not always betoken

44 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. II.

great affection. In going away she is pleased to say that
she is glad to have met me, and I believe her. The reason
is that I dropped some expressions and sentiments a little
rough, and which were agreeable because they contrast with
the palling polish she constantly meets with everywhere.
Hence I conclude that the less I have the honor of such
good company the better, for when the novelty ceases all is
over, and I shall probably be worse than insipid. Every
body complains of the weather and yet the weather don't
mend. It could not be worse if we praised it."

The diary notes that " on Friday [March 27th] the Mare-
chal de Castries calls and takes me to dine with M. and
Madame Necker.* In the salon we find Madame de Stael.
She seems to be a woman of sense and somewhat mascu
line in her character, but has very much the appearance of
a chambermaid. A little before dinner M. Necker enters.
He has the look and manner of the counting-house, and,
being dressed in embroidered velvet, he contrasts strongly
with his habiliments. His bow, his address, etc., say, '/
am the man.' Our company is one half Academicians.
The Duchess of Biron, formerly Lauzun, is one. I observe
that M. Necker seems occupied by ideas whch rather
distress him. He cannot, I think, stay in office half an
hour after the nation insist on keeping him there. He is
much harassed and madame receives continually memoires
from different people, so that she seems as much occupied

* Jacques Necker, Prime Minister of France, was a native of Switzerland.
The first public exposition of the revenue and expenses of the State was
made by him in his famous compte rendu published in 1781 and which was re
ceived with great favor ; but, later, his reforms made for him many enemies at
Court and elsewhere. He succeeded Brienne as Prime Minister or Comp
troller of Finances about September i, 1788. He favored the Revolution by
granting to the Tiers Etat a double number of deputies. On the I ith of July,
1789, he was suddenly dismissed, but was recalled on the 2istof July, and re
mained in office until September, 1790, when, becoming convinced that he
was too conservative to satisfy the popular party, he resigned, and passed the
rest of his life at Coppet.

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 45

as he is. If he is a really great man I am deceived, and
yet this is a rash judgment ; but how can one help forming
some judgment ? If he is not a laborious man I am also
deceived. From dinner I visit Madame de Chastellux.
After being there some time the Duchess of Orleans en
ters. We have a trio for half an hour. She has something
or the other which weighs heavy at her heart, perhaps the
'besoin d'etre aimee,' that ' painful void left aching in the
breast.' I make an apology for her husband's wildness,
by advising her to breed her son, M. de Beaujolais, to
business, because otherwise at five and twenty, having en
joyed all which rank and fortune can give him, he will be
unhappy from not knowing what to do with himself. She
repeats that she is very glad to see me there. This is
very kind, but I do not exactly know what it means."

After a pleasant hour with the duchess and Madame de
Chastellux, a supper with the Baron de Besenval claimed
attention. " A large party," he says, " and his reputed son,
the Vicomte de Segur, is one of the number, and if resem
blances and caresses may be taken for evidence of the
fact it must be admitted. This young man is the Lovelace
of his day and as remarkable for seductions as his father.
He does not want for understanding. The tone of the
society here seems to be that it was not worth while to
call the States-General for such a trifle as the deficit
amounts to. The business of M. Necker therefore stands
thus : If any mischiefs happen they will be charged to
him. If he gets well through the business others will
claim the reputation of what good is done by the States-
General. He loves flattery — for he flatters ; he is there
fore easily deceived. He believes that many persons sup
port him out of esteem, who I believe only use him, and
will throw by the instrument when it can no longer serve
their purpose. Necker is in blast till May, but will prob-

46 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. II.

ably blow out unless further means can be devised. The
Caisse d'Escompte is full of 'effets royaux ' (royal bills).
Consequently both the means and the inclination to afford
succor are wanting."

Not yet entirely used to the manners and customs of
Paris, "I find," Morris says, "that I have been guilty
of a betise in answering a note of Madame de Corney by
one addressed to monsieur. Although it was signed De
Corney, I ought to have understood better ' the marks of
the crow-quill.' Dine [March 3oth] with Marshal de Cas
tries.* Hint an idea to him respecting the debt and ex
press a wish to converse with him on the subject. He
appoints to-morrow. Call on Madame de Chastellux.
After some time Madame de Segur comes in. Her visit
is short, being engaged for the evening. After she has
left us for a while the Duchesse d'Orleans enters. A
look from her Royal Highness opens the idea that M.
Morris est tm peu amour eux de Madame la Marquise, but
Madame la Duchesse is mistaken. However, this mis
take can do no harm to anybody. The Vicomte de Segur
comes in and a look which he takes great pains to conceal
tells me that he believes I am inclined to take his advice
of the other day, viz., to have an affair with the widow,
and it tells me also that he means to console her for the
loss of her husband. From thence I go to Madame de
Flahaut's, an elegant woman, and a snug party. She is
by no means deficient in understanding, and has, I think,
good dispositions. Nous verrons"

In a long conversation on April ist, which was solicited
vby the Marechal de Castries, Morris stated his ideas

"The Marechal de Castries, an able general of France, was Governor-Gen
eral of Flanders at one time and afterward Minister of Marine. His hotel was
among the first destroyed in Paris by the Revolutionists in 1789. He emi
grated and found an asylum with the Duke of Brunswick.

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 47

with regard to the value of the debt from America to
France, and proposed to purchase it with tobacco, flour,
rice, and salt provisions— part payment to be made with
money, and part with the debt. But the Marshal ob
jected to the salt provisions because they must encourage
this commerce with Ireland, the Irish buying large
quantities of Bordeaux wine. " He thinks," Morris says,
"the tobacco may do, objects to the flour, and says noth
ing about the rice, and thinks, on the whole, that the pay
ment of the debt is of trifling importance in comparison
with the greater object of French commerce. M. Necker
will, on the contrary, I presume, be of opinion that the
payment of the debt is of the utmost importance." Mor
ris, however, was to submit his ideas on paper that the
marshal might further consider them.

M. de Lafayette had, in spite of Morris's fears to the
contrary, just secured his election for his province in
Auvergne, and on the second of April Morris called on
Madame de Lafayette to congratulate her on the result,
and talk a little politics. From there to Madame de
Chastellux's, where Madame Rully, " another of the Du-
chesse d'Orleans's women of honor, comes in, and with
very fine eyes which she knows very well how to make use
of. Has no antipathy to the gentler passion. Nousverrons.

Madame , sister to the late M. de Chastellux, joins

us, and after some time the Duchess of Orleans. She
complains of a headache, but is, I think, rather out of
temper than in ill-health. M. Morris seems to me not to
be such agreeable company as before. Take leave and
go to supper with Madame de Corney. After a little
while Madame de Flahaut enters. Presently, M. de
Corney.* He has in vain contested for the rights of the
Prtuotd of Paris. Reads us his speech. M. Necker is

* M. de Corney, procureur de la ville.

48 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. II.

blamed, and the company do not appear inclined to mercy
on his subject. I had learnt at Madame de Chastellux's
that the King has received an express that M. de Calonne
is at Douay, and will probably be elected a member of the
States-General. This intelligence is not disagreeable to
the company here. M. de Corney tells me he did every
thing in his power for Nesbitt, but the bureau of M. De-
Ville Delville are violently prejudiced against him. This
Nesbitt ought to have known, for in his affair he met a
beautiful woman, the sister or cousin of his creditor, and
in the second affair M. le Secretaire treated him with the
utmost politeness and showed no doubt of the success of
his application, etc., whereas at Versailles I found very
great obstacles. Thus a little negligence has involved
him in a manner which I shall find very difficult to ex
tricate him from. At going away Madame de Corney tells
me, ' Et bien, je vous ai fait souper avec Madame de
Flahaut, ne suis-je pas une bonne femme?' * Oui, Ma
dame.' The rest of my compliment is conveyed by press
ing her hand and a look of reconnaissance."

" I go [April 3d] to keep an engagement with Madame
de Flahaut, to see the statues, paintings etc., of the
Louvre. She is in bed and her brother-in-law is sit
ting witli her. So it appears she has, as she says, for
gotten her engagement to me. M. de Flahaut comes in.
She sends us forward, and is to follow. This is done.
We walk over the court of the Louvre, through the mud,
view the statues — the paintings we cannot see, that pleas
ure is for another opportunity. Return to her quarters.
Monsieur, presuming that I was about to follow her up
stairs merely out of politeness, apologizes for me. In
consequence I take my leave, and thus a scene, which
my imagination had painted very well, turns out good for
nothing. The weather contributes to render it disagree-

XJNIVEKSIT

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 49

able — wind, rain, and, of course mud without, and damp
ness within. But this is human life. Monsieur, as I go
away, expresses a hope to see me again soon, and requests
to be commanded if he can be useful in anything. This
politesse is always agreeable, though a man must be a fool
to believe in it.

''This is a day of accidents. In going from hence I slip
as I step into the carriage, and bruise my shin very much.
Thus everything goes wrong. Visit the Comtesse Durfort.
She has company and is but just risen. Pressed to dine,
but decline it. She is going to sup with the Baron de
Besenval, and I promise to be there if I can. She says
if I do not go, it is because I will not. * On peut tout
ce qu'on veut.' Stammer out a bald compliment in re
ply. I am certainly good for nothing, and the only tol
erable thing I can do is to go home. This is done, and,
being out of humor with myself, I find the dinner very
bad. Threaten to deal with another waiter — extremely
ridiculous. The waiter, who behaves with great humility,
must, I think, despise me for talking angrily before I can
talk French. At five o'clock I visit Madame de Segur.
Madame de Chastellux and Madame de Puisignieu are
there. In conversing about public men and measures I
am so weak and absurd as to express many opinions which
I ought to conceal, and some of which I may perhaps find
reason to alter. Two ladies come in, and as I am going
away Madame de Segur, to whom I had mentioned my
intention of visiting Mr. Jefferson, has the politeness to
say, ' Nous vous reverrons, M. Morris ? ' and I have
the stupidity to answer in the affirmative. Call on Mr.
Jefferson, and sit an hour with him, which is at least fifty
minutes too long, for his daughter had left the room on my
approach, and waits only my departure, at least I think so.
Returning in consistency with my promise, I call on Ma-
4

50 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. II.

dame de Segur, and am shown into the room where she
is with her father-in-law. He lies on a couch, or rather
sofa — the gout in his right hand, which is his only hand.
Madame de Chastellux and another lady are there. I
think I was wrong to come here, and for that reason find
it difficult to get away — vastly awkward. At length make
a shift to take leave, and, to avoid all further folly for this
day, determine to go home."

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 51

CHAPTER III.

Dearth of wheat at Lyons. Morris offers Necker a cargo. Graciousness of
the Duchess of Orleans. Ladies vexed by long arguments in the
salons. Ten thousand troops ordered, out. Swiss guards within the
barriers. Necker's fall desired. Tete-a-tete dish of tea with Madame
de S6gur. King and princes oppose liberty. Political talk with the
Bishop of Autun. Makes a plan of finance for France. Advises the
massing of the Swiss guards round the king's person. Election excite
ments. A water-party on the Seine. An eventful day at Versailles.
Meeting of the States-General. Magnificent spectacle. Mirabeau
hissed. The Duke of Orleans applauded. Visit to Marly. Madame
du Barry. Madame de Se'gur at her toilet. Petit-Trianon Gardens.
Madame de Suze's lapdog.

IN the month of April the dearth of wheat at Lyons
gave the ministers serious apprehension, and Morris
proposed to the banker Le Coulteux to offer a cargo of
grain which was then arriving. The plan was approved
of and an express sent to Versailles to consult with M.
Necker. " This evening [April 6th] at Madame de
Puisignieu's," says the diary, " I am told that there is
wheat enough in the kingdom, but that it is bought up by
forestallers and that M. Necker is suspected of having
engaged the funds and credit of government in the op
eration, by which he will get for the crown one hundred
and fifty millions. I cannot help expressing my detesta
tion of this vile slander, and M. de Puisignieu seems
ashamed of hinting it. How wretched is the situation of
that man who is raised high above others. His services,
the fruit of anxious solicitude, are attributed to chance, or
pared down to the size of ordinary occurrences. But every

52 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. III.

public misfortune, even the interference of the seasons
and the operations of human cupidity, are charged to the
ignorance or injustice of administration. M. Le Coulteux
wishes that I should go with him to one of the adminis
tration about the cargo of the Russel, as he is fearful
that an offer from him would be considered merely in the
light of a private speculation. In the afternoon go to
M. Le Coulteux's and take him up by appointment.
We visit M. Montlieraiu, and Monsieur C. opens the
business. I find he was right in his idea of the reception
it would meet with, but I cut the matter short by putting
it at once on its true ground without any of those com
pliments that had already been brought forward and which
might of course now be dispensed with. This induces
M. Montlieraiu to think more seriously of the mat
ter. The brother of the first magistrate of Lyons is sent
for, who wishes it very much. After considering the sev
eral difficulties the thing appears of such consequence that
a letter is to be written to-morrow, to M. Necker. I
desire pointedly that, if my name is used, M. Necker may
know that this offer is made from a view to relieve the ad
ministration, but above all to succor the distressed peo
ple and without the slightest attention to pecuniary con
siderations."

The ''procession to Longchamp " took place on the
8th of April, and Morris described it as " exhibiting a
strange mixture of wretched fiacres and superb equipages
with all the intermediate degrees. While visiting Madame
de Chastellux this evening," he continues, " a message is
brought from the Duchess of Orleans to the effect that
she cannot pay her intended visit. Madame de Chastellux
told me that the Duchess had observed on not seeing me
there for some time, and said she would visit me chez
Madame la Marquise this evening. This is a badinage

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 53

which I begin to comprehend, and there is nothing in it to
flatter my vanity. Tant mieux. I assure the marchioness
of my veneration and affection, etc., for her Royal High-
ness's virtues, in which there is much more sincerity than
a person of her rank has a right to expect. She tells me
that Madame de Rully is a slut. I assure her that this in
formation gives me great concern, that I was becoming
violently in love with her, and am totally palled by the
communication. Tout cela s'entend."

The early spring attracted Morris toward the coun
try, and he mentions visiting the country-seat of M.
le Normand, where, with his true farmer's instinct, he
carefully examined the farm, and expressed himself very
much surprised to learn " that the sheep are housed in
winter. I attribute it with other practices to want of
knowledge in husbandry," he says, " for, in effect, this is a
science very little understood in France. They will ac
quire it by means of that Anglomania which now rages
among them. If at the same time they should improve
both their agriculture and constitution, it will be difficult
to calculate the power of this nation. But the progress
of this nation seems to be much greater in the fine arts
than in the useful arts. This perhaps depends on a gov
ernment oppressive to industry but favorable to genius.
At Vieflis [the chateau of M. le Norrage] we have a
thousand proofs that the master does not understand cal
culation : a very large house not finished, a garden or
park which, if ever completed, will at least have been ex
pensive, and will perhaps be magnificent. A large com
pany and a small dinner. An abbe declaims violently
against moderation in politics. He will, he says, carry
the post by assault. This will be somewhat difficult, as
the King has already surrendered everything at discretion.
I desire the Comte de Pellue to ask him what he wants.

54 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. III.

He says a constitution. But what constitution ? In ex
plaining himself, it appears that he desires less than is
already granted, and a part of the company differ with
him because he does not desire enough. And so much
for carrying everything by assault. A tedious argument
is commenced, to which I pay no attention, but find that
the ladies are vexed at it, because the orators are so vehe
ment that their gentle voices cannot be heard. They will
have more of this, if the States-General should really fix a
constitution. Such an event would be particularly dis
tressing to the women of this country, for they would be
thereby deprived of their share in the government, and
hitherto they have exercised an authority almost un
limited, with no small pleasure to themselves, though
not perhaps with the greatest advantage to the commu
nity."

" To-day [April i5th] I visit M. Millet. He is at play with
a number of people who look like gamblers. Madame is
abroad and probably engaged at a different game. Call
on Madame de Durfort. She lets me know that she is go
ing to pay a visit to a sick person, and she takes an officer
of dragoons to support her under the affliction. Take tea
with Madame de Chastellux. She gives me many curious
anecdotes of this country. Two ladies come in and talk
politics. One of them dislikes M. Necker so much that she
seemed vexed with herself for being pleased with a little
jeu d'esprit which he composed several years ago and
which Madame de Chastellux reads to us."

"In a very long conversation with M. de Lafayette to
day [April i yth] he gives me the history of his campaign in
Auvergne. I find that his mind is getting right as to the
business he has in hand. We consider of a revolt in Paris,
and agree that it might occasion much mischief but would
not produce any good, that in consequence it will be

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 55

best to enter a protestation against the manner of canvass
ing the city, etc., but to go on with the business and get
the members elected. There is to be a meeting of the
noblesse this afternoon and M. Clermont * will talk to.
this effect. He is, if possible, to be made one of the rep
resentatives and is therefore to be brought forward as a
speaker immediately. Lafayette says he has genius and
family though of small fortune. Go to dine with M. de la
Breteche after dinner. M. de Durfort, comes in. He has
been at the meeting. M. de Clermont's speech was very
much admired and he carried his point by a large ma
jority, contrary, says M. de Durfort to the wish of M.
Necker' s friends. I am very curious, and among other
things ask if M. de Lafayette was there. Yes, and said a
few words which were very well. As M. de Durfort is not
the friend of either M. de Lafayette or M. Necker, I fancy
things have gone very right. Ten thousand men are or
dered into the neighborhood of Paris, and the French and
Swiss guards are within the barriers, which makes the
Mare'chaussee, etc., six thousand more, so that if we have
an insurrection it will be warm work. The revolution that
is carrying on in the country is a strange one. A few peo
ple who have set it going look with astonishment at their
own work. The ministers contribute to the destruction of
ministerial authority, without knowing either what they
are doing or what to do. M. Necker, who thinks he di
rects everything, is perhaps himself as much an instru
ment as any of those which he makes use of. His fall is
I think desired, but it will not happen so soon as his ene
mies expect. It will depend much on the chapter of acci
dents who will govern the States-General, or whether they
will be at all governable. Gods ! what a theatre this is

* Clermont de Tonnerre was elected by the noblesse to the States-General
in 1789. Perished in the massacre of August 10, 1792.

56 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. III.

for a first-rate character. Lafayette has given me this
morning the anticipation of a whimsical part of the drama.
The Duke de Coigny, one of the Queen's lovers, is directed
by his constituents to move that the Queen shall not, in
case of accidents, be Regent, and he (Lafayette), who is
hated by both King and Queen, intends to oppose that mo
tion. I give him one or two reasons which strike me in
support of his opinion, but he inclines to place it on a dif
ferent ground. His opinions accord best with those of a
republic. Mine are drawn only from human nature and
ought not therefore to have much respect in this age of
refinement. It would indeed be ridiculous for those to
believe in man who affect not to believe in God."

" This afternoon [April 28th] over a tete-a-tete dish of tea
with Madame de Segur we have a pleasant talk. The tea
is very good, and her conversation is better flavored than
her tea, which comes from Russia. After this an hour
spent with Madame de Chastellux at the Palais Royal,
where I found her with her son lying in her lap. A
mother in this situation is always interesting, and her late
loss renders her particularly so. In the course of conver
sation, asking after the health of her princess, she repeats
a message formerly delivered. On this occasion I observe
that I should be sorry to show a want of respectful atten
tion or be guilty of an indiscretion, and therefore wish to
know what would be proper conduct should I meet Her
Highness anywhere else — that my present opinion is that
it would be proper not to know her. She says I may rely
on it that in such case she would recognize me. I tell her
farther that, although in my interior I have a great indif
ference for the advantages of birth, and only respect in
her Royal Highness the virtues she possesses, yet I feel
myself bound to comply exteriorly with the feelings and
prejudices of those among whom I find myself. Between

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 57

nine and ten it is concluded that the Duchess will not
make her evening visit, and I take my leave, returning the
message I had received : ' I have visited Madame la Du-
chesse chez Madame de Chastellux, and I am sorry not to
have met her there.' "

Morris seemed to be impressed with his lack of the
proper spirit of a traveller and sightseer, for in a letter
[April i8th] to a friend at Philadelphia he confessed his
shortcomings in that regard.

" I am pretty well convinced," he wrote, " that I am not
fit for a traveller, and yet I thought otherwise when I left
America. But what will you say to a man who has been
above two months in Paris without ascending to the top
of Notre Dame, who has been but three times to Ver
sailles, and on neither of those times has seen the King or
Queen, or had the wish to see them, and who, if he should
continue here twenty years, would continue in ignorance
of the length of the Louvre, the breadth of the Pont
Neuf, etc. ? A man in Paris lives in a sort of whirlwind
which turns him round so fast that he can see nothing, and
as all men and things are in the same vertiginous situation
you can neither fix yourself nor your object for regular
examination. Hence the people of this metropolis are
under the necessity of pronouncing their definitive judg
ment from the first glance ; and being thus habituated to
shoot flying, they have what the sportsmen call a quick
sight. They know a wit by his snuff-box, a man of taste by
his bow, and a statesman by the cut of his coat. It is true
that like other sportsmen they sometimes miss, but like
other sportsmen they have a thousand excuses besides
the want of skill. The fault, you know, may be in the
dog or the bird or the powder or the flint, or even the
gun, without mentioning the gunner.

"We are at present in a fine situation for what the

58 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. III.

bucks and bloods would term a frolic and high fun.
The ministers have disgusted this city by the manner
of convoking them to elect their representatives for the
States-General, and at the same time bread is getting
dearer. So that when the people assemble on Monday,
Tuesday, and Wednesday next, what with hunger and dis
content the least spark would set everything in a flame.
The state physicians have, by way of antidote, brought
between fifteen and twenty thousand regular troops
within and about the city ; so that at any rate the bans
bourgeois may not have all the fun to themselves. This
measure will rather tend to produce than to prevent a
riot, for some of the young nobility have brought them
selves to an active faith in the natural equality of man
kind, and spurn at everything which looks like re
straint."

"This evening [April 2oth] while I am taking tea in
Madame de Flahaut's salon, the Marquis de Boursac
comes in fresh from the elections. He has been very busy
all day in traversing the views of the ministry in the elec
tion of the nobles, and thinks with success. There is to be
a meeting to-morrow morning at the Provost's of Paris,
to decide finally what they shall do. Madame goes to
make her visit of condolence to Madame de Guibert,
whose husband, a Neckerist, is dismissed from his place
in the War Office, at which, by the bye, she is delighted,
though Madame de Guibert will not be so well pleased,
notwithstanding that she is of the party opposed to her
husband. Promise Madame de Flahaut to return, and go
to M. Millet's ;* sit a little while with him and his mis
tress, and then call on Madame de Corney. She is in
high spirits at the opposition like to take place among the
nobles. She gives me an anecdote from the Baron de

* One of the partners in the firm of Le Coulteux de Cantaleu.

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 59

Breteuil,* who had it from the mouth of M. Ma-
chault, a minister. The King and Princes have united
together to oppose the progress of liberty, the rapidity of
which has at length given them serious alarm. The King
applied to M. Machault to be premier, which he de
clined on account of his age. Was asked his opinion of
M. Necker. * I don't like his conduct, but I think it
would be dangerous to dismiss him at present.' Madame
de Corney presses me to stay to supper, but I decline, tell
ing her I am engaged to her friend the Comtesse de Fla-
haut, which she of course admits to be a sufficient reason.
Go to Madame de Flahaut's. Meet the Bishop d'Autun.f
Talk more politics than I ought.

" I am of the opinion that if the Court should attempt
now to recede, it is impossible to conjecture the event.
The chiefs of the patriotic party have gone so far that
they cannot retreat with safety. If there be any real vigor
in the nation the prevailing party in the States-General
may, if they please, overturn the monarchy itself, should
the King commit his authority to a contest with them.

* Baron de Breteuil, said by Madame Campan to have been the cause of
the scandal and result of the affair of the diamond necklace, because of his
hatred for the Cardinal de Rohan. The Abbe Vermond threw the entire
blame on him. In August, 1789, he was nominated to fill M. Necker's place
in the Finances.

t Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord, Prince of Benevento, a cele
brated French diplomatist and wit, born at Paris, February 13, 1754. An
accident made him lame for life ; and, in consequence, he was required to re
sign his birthright and enter the church, which profession was very distaste
ful to him. In 1788 he became Bishop of Autun, and in 1789 member of the
States-General, and, enlisting in the service of liberty and equality, he joined
the Third Estate. He was proscribed by Robespierre, and took refuge in
the United States. In 1799 he co-operated with Bonaparte in the revolution
of the i8th Brumaire. He was distinguished for his sarcastic wit and exquisite
tact, his coolness and sobriety, and " masterly inactivity." He resigned from
the cabinet of Louis XVIII. because he would not sign the humiliating treaty
which was concluded with the Allied Powers. He died at Paris in May, 1838,
leaving memoirs to be published thirty years after his death.

6O DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. III.

The Court is extremely feeble, and the manners are so
extremely corrupt that they cannot succeed if there be
any consistent opposition. Unless the whole nation be
equally depraved, the probability, I think, is that an at
tempt to retreat at this late period of the business will
bring the Court into absolute contempt."

" After the Com£die Francaise to-night [April 2ist] I go
to Madame de Chastellux's, and she gives me the news
from Versailles. M. de Vauguyon* is not to return to
Spain. M. de la Luzerne is to go there. Hope that
M. de Segur will go to London. The nobles of Paris
have agreed to elect, protesting against the Regle-
ment. This is the best course they could take. Madame
de Chastellux tells me that the Duchesse d'Orl£ans had
left, a little before my arrival, a message for me. She
wishes me to see her son, M. de Beaujolais."

Morris had been for some time engaged in forming a
plan of finance for France. It had been translated into
French, and presented to M. de Malesherbes. The morn
ing of Wednesday, the 22d, Morris spent with Jeffer
son, discussing the question of the finances generally, and
particularly the plan which he had made. " Mr. Jeffer
son," he says (April 22d), "likes much my plan of finance.
We wait till after four for Lafayette, who then comes in
deshabille, having been engaged in politics till that mo
ment. The business we believe is going well. I advise
that the Swiss guards should be removed from about the
King's person by the States-General, and a compliment be
at the same time made to the national troops. Mr. Jeffer
son does not seem to think this important, but I urge it to
the conviction of Lafayette. He wishes to have our opin
ion whether he should take a great part in the debates of

* The Due de Vauguyon had been the governor of the sons of the Dauphin,
who became, respectively, Louis XVI., Louis XVIII., and Charles X.

1798. J GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 6 1

the States-General. We agree that he should only speak
on important occasions. Afterwards Jefferson and I .go
to the Palais Royal to get our profiles taken." [The
semi-silhouette substitute for the photography of to-
day.]

'- To-night [April 24th] at supper at the Baron deBesen-
val's, we are told of an express announcing the Emperor's
death, and then again that he is not dead. It appears,
however, that he is not long for this world. We hear a
great deal also about the disturbances for want of bread.
These give pleasure to the company here, who are all ad
verse to the present administration. We hear also that
there is to be a new administration ; that Monsieur is to
be the chief, and all the present ministers are to go out
except Necker. This arrangement is less agreeable to the
company than it would have been to turn out Necker and
keep the rest. For my own part, I do not believe in a
change just now. Puisignieu tells me that the States-Gen
eral will quarrel immediately about the question as to the
votes, whether they shall be given par ordre or par tete.
He asserts this with so much warmth as to show that he
wishes it. He says, further, that the nation is incapable of
liberty ; that they can bear nothing long and will not even
stay at their regiments above three months. Thus he takes
the noblesse for the nation, and judges the noblesse from
those members who, from idleness and dissipation, are of
the least consequence in revolutions except, indeed, so far
as their numbers are concerned. It seems the general posi
tion of those who wish the King to be everything that he
must inevitably be so in a few years, let the nation do
what it will in the present moment. In fact, the revolu
tionists have but flimsy materials to work with, and unless
some greater energy of character should result from their
present doings, the friends of despotism must succeed."

62 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. III.

" All this morning [April 25th] I am employed in writ
ing, and in the afternoon go to dine with M. Millet and
his mistress, the Marquis de Brehan, an old lady and
her daughter, beautiful and just coming forward, one
married woman, a young and extremely handsome one,
the husband of the former, and the friend of the latter,
with a captain in the navy, who like myself is a bachelor,
and a young man I know not who. The dinner (a la matelote]
and the guests are of M. Millet's bespeaking. After des
sert we are entertained by an old woman who plays on
the vielle (hurdy gurdy) and accompanies her instrument
with loose songs, to the great delight of the gentlemen,
the mother, and the married lady, whose husband has an
exhausted, disconsolate air. The child listens with infinite
attention. The two young ladies are not well pleased.
M. Millet proposes another such party for next week,
which we agree to. He is to order the dinner and consult
us. I tell him it shall be just what he pleases, but that we
will, if he pleases, excuse the music. From thence we go
to the Hotel Royal des Invalides, a most magnificent
piece of architecture. The chapel and the dome are sub
lime. In the kitchen we are made to observe, among
other things, a little kettle with 2,500 pounds of beef for to
morrow's soup ; another, with a smaller quantity, for mes
sieurs les offiders. A spectacle which excited the great
est effect in my mind was a number of mutilated veter
ans on their knees in the chapel. The most sincere devo
tion. Poor wretches ! they have no hope on this side of
the grave. The women went on their knees when we
came near the sacristy. At M. Millet's suggestion, I
made a prayer for the two handsomest, which they liked
quite as well as any in the Missal. M. Millet tells me
that he heard a number of the "invalides " expressing their
pity that so fine a man should have lost his lesr. He did

I798-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 63

not perceive me give one of them a crown, or he would
have known how to appreciate the compliment and the
compassion."

On Sunday (April 26th) Morris was entertaining a
friend, whereupon, he says, "I receive to my great surprise
a billet from a lady containing a declaration of love, but
anonymous. I write an ambiguous answer to the fair in
cognita and send my servant Martin to dog the messen
ger, a little boy, who delivers it to a waiting-woman. She
goes to the house of M. Millet. It is therefore from his
mistress, who certainly is worth attention. In the even
ing I call on Madame Millet, but have not an opportunity
to say a word to her en particulier. Call on Madame de
Chastellux, and find that as usual the Duchess has just left
her, and a little message for me. There is something
whimsical in this, but I express a regret on the subject.
This evening at Madame de Flahaut's they are in the
midst of politics, of which I am tired. After supper the
Bishop of Autun reads us the protest of the nobles and
clergy of Brittany, and during the lecture I very uncivilly
fall asleep. Madame is not well, and besides has met with
something in the course of the day which preys upon her
spirits. I enquire what it is and she declines telling me,
which I am glad of."

Paris was astir with the excitement of the elections
during this month of April. On the 2ist the "Electoral
Assemblies " had begun. The streets were full of electors
of each degree. Besides, the town swarmed with beggars.
Twenty thousand vagabonds infested the capital, sur
rounded the palace, and filled the Hotel de Ville. The
government, being forced thereto, kept twelve thousand of
them digging on the hills of Montmartre and payed them 20
sous a day. They were starving. Bread was very scarce.
They surrounded the bakers' shops and a bitter murmuring,

64 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. III.

gradually growing louder, arose from them. Irritated, ex
cited, imaginative, they waited for some excuse for action,,
however slight. It came on the 25th, in a rumor that Re-
veillon, an elector and manufacturer, had " spoken badly
of the people at an electoral meeting." What he actually
said no one knew ; that he was a just man all knew ; what
they imagined he said was that "a man and his wife and chil
dren could live on fifteen sous a day," and he was a traitor
and must die. All day Sunday the crowds, idle and angry,
had time to talk and to encourage each other to violence.
On Monday, still idle and drunk, the mob began to move,
armed with clubs. Morris mentions going out to see the
banker Le Coulteux. "His gate" [April 2yth], he says,
" is shut and all the shops are shut. There is, it seems, a
riot in Paris, and the troops are at work somewhere, which
has given a great alarm to the city. I believe it is very
trifling." By midnight the crowd was somewhat dispersed,
but only to reassemble with renewed energy to do its wild
work the next morning. The cause of the " Third Estate "
was what they had come to defend, and not even when they
faced the cannon and saw two hundred of their number
killed did they relinquish their firm conviction that the
cause of the Third Estate was righteous and would pre
vail.

Meantime the society of the Palais Royal in Madame de
Chastellux's salon drank their tea quietly, and talked poli
tics. "Madame de Chastellux tells me," writes Morris,
"she expects the Duchess to-night. I therefore stay to
meet her Royal Highness. She comes in pretty late, is
vastly civil, refers to her several messages, extremely
sorry not to have met me, etc., to all of which I answer as
well as I can. In effect, it goes beyond my idea, though I
must from necessity adhere to my original interpretation.
She talks a good deal of politics with her friends about the

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 65

assemblies, etc., and I congratulate her on this employ
ment for her mind, which has contributed already to her
health. She says her visit must be very short ; she is go
ing to see her children. She came in late, and she should
not have made the visit, but to see me. This is clearly
persiflage, but it would be vastly uncivil in me should I
appear to think so."

In a letter written to Mr. Carmichael on the 27th, men
tion is made of a visit paid to M. de Montmorin, who re
ceived him civilly, but indifferently. He says : " Should
the intrigue now carrying on be successful, they will all
be turned out, and then I will cultivate the acquaint
ance of M. de Montmorin, for the Minister of Foreign
Affairs is too much occupied. I can say nothing to you
about the politics of this country. I know I write under
the inspection of those whose hands this letter may pass
through in both kingdoms. Besides, there is nothing that
can be depended on till the States-General shall have
been some time assembled. The Emperor is, I suppose, by
this time in the regions of the departed. This country is
not in a condition to send an army of observation to the
Rhine, and of course her ministers will be but little at
tended to. The part which Britain and Prussia may take
is uncertain." 4

" On the way to see M. Millet [April 28th] I see some
troops marching with two small field pieces towards the
Faubourg St. Antoine. It seems there has been a riot
there. Hear at M. Millet's a terrible account of it,
which certainly is exaggerated. Later I find that the riot
has been pretty serious." But the French theatre, and an
endeavor to discover if Madame Millet was the fair hero
ine of the anonymous billets, evidently occupied more of
Morris's attention than the riots. " It would seem," he
says, " that the billets are not from her and that I am
5

66 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. III.

egregiously mistaken, and my curiosity is strong." M.
Millet's party, planned the week before, was fixed for the
ist of May. " I dress and go to M. Millet's, where
the party are to meet. Madame is waiting for her bonnet,
and afterwards we wait for some other persons of the com
pany. Proceed to the Palais de Bourbon. See the small
apartments and garden. They are very beautiful. From
thence we go to the cabaret, and dine a la matelote— the
same company we had last week, except the captain in the
navy. After dinner, the women propose to go on the
Seine, to which I readily agree. We shall be less liable
to observation there, which, considering my company, is
of some consequence. M. Millet will not go and ma-
dame is glad to get rid of him, which he seems to per
ceive, and goes home alone to enjoy the reflection which
such an idea cannot fail to engender. We embark in a
dirty fishing boat, and sit on dirty boards laid across.
Mademoiselle, who is dressed in muslin trimmed with hand
some lace, adds much to the beauty of her dress, which is
completely draggled. Her friend seems well pleased with
my attentions to her, and she tries to be modest, but apes
the character badly. After descending a considerable dis
tance, we remount to the Barriere de Chaillot, but from a
mistake in the orders, (which has been the loss of many
battles) our carriages are not to be found. We walk to
wards town. The women, as wild as birds let out of a cage,
dispatch the men different ways, but yet no news of our
equipages. Cross the river, and go to look for them where
we dined. Not finding them, we return to recross it.
Meet a servant, who tells me that carriages are at the
Grille Chaillot. We recross. The scow is taken over by
the course of the current, a rope being extended across the
river, and a pulley moving to and fro along it, to which
pulley the boat is connected by a strong rope, and that

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 6/

end of the rope which is fastened to the boat moves by
means of a loop sliding along a bar at the gunwale such
a distance towards the end of the scow from the centre as
to present the side of the vessel to the current, in an angle
of about forty-five degrees. By this means the scow is
carried over with considerable velocity. After waiting
some time for the carriages (during which time the women
amuse themselves with running about), they at length
arrive, and I come home. Dress and go to Madame de
Flahaut's. A large company, a great deal of politics, and
some play. I do not get home till one, having set down a
gentleman who was unprovided of a carriage. Then I
sit and read till near two, and go to bed, heartily fatigued
with the day's amusement, if I may give that name to
things which did not amuse me at all. I incline to think
that Madame Roselle is my unknown correspondent, and
I do not care sixpence who it is."

On the 29th of April Morris wrote to General Washing
ton giving him a description of M. de Lafayette's suc
cess in his political campaign in Auvergne. " He had to
contend," he says, "with the prejudices and the interests of
his order, and with the influence of the Queen and Princes,
(except the Duke of Orleans) but he was too able for his
opponent. He played the orator with as much eclat as ever
he acted the soldier, and is at this moment as much envied
and hated as ever his heart could wish. He is also much
beloved by the nation, for he stands forward as one of the
principal champions for her rights. The elections are fin
ished throughout this kingdom, except in the capital, and
it appears from the instructions given to the representa
tives (called here les cahiers] that certain points are uni
versally demanded, which when granted and secured will
render France perfectly free as to the principles of the
constitution — I say principles, for one generation at least

68 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. III.

will be required to render the practice familiar. We have,
I think, every reason to wish that the patriots may be suc
cessful. The generous wish which a free people must
form to disseminate freedom, the grateful emotion which
rejoices in the happiness of a benefactor, and a strong
personal interest as well in the liberty as in the power of
this country, all conspire to make us far from indifferent
spectators. I say that we have an interest in the liberty of
France. The leaders here are our friends ; many of them
have imbibed their principles in America, and all have
been fired by our example. Their opponents are by no
means rejoiced at the success of our Revolution, and many
of them are disposed to form connections of the strictest
kind with Great Britain. The commercial treaty emanated
from such dispositions, and, according to the usual course
of those events which are shaped by human wisdom, it will
probably produce the exact reverse of what was intended
by the projectors. The spirit of this nation is at present
high, and M. Necker is very popular, but if he continues
long in administration it will be somewhat wonderful.
His enemies are numerous, able, and inveterate. His sup
porters are uncertain as to his fate, and will protect him
no longer than while he can aid in establishing a con
stitution. But when once that great business is accom
plished he will be left to stand on his own ground. The
Court wish to get rid of him, and unless he shows very
strong in the States-General they will gratify their
wishes. His ability as a minister will be much contested
in that assembly, but with what success time only can
determine.

"The materials for a revolution in this country are very
indifferent. Everybody agrees that there is an utter pros
tration of morals — but this general position can never
convey to the American mind the degree of depravity.

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 69

It is not by any figure of rhetoric, or force of language,
that the idea can be communicated. An hundred anec
dotes and an hundred thousand examples are required to
show the extreme rottenness of every member. There are
men and women who are greatly and eminently virtuous.
I have the pleasure to number many in my own acquaint
ance, but they stand forward from a background deep
ly and darkly shaded. It is, however, from such crum
bling matter that the great edifice of freedom is to be
erected here. Perhaps, like the stratum of rock which is
spread under the whole surface of their country, it may
harden when exposed to the air, but it seems quite as like
ly that it will fall and crush the builders. I own to you
that I am not without such apprehensions, for there is one
fatal principle which pervades all ranks. It is a perfect
indifference to the violation of all engagements. Incon
stancy is so mingled in the blood, marrow, and every essence
of this people, that when a man of high rank and impor
tance laughs to-day at what he seriously asserted yester
day, it is considered as in the natural order of things.
Consistency is the phenomenon. Judge then what would
be the value of an association should such a thing be pro
posed, and even adopted. The great mass of the people
have no religion but their priests, no law but their superi
ors, no morals but their interest. These are the creatures
who, led by drunken curates, are now in the high-road a la
Liberte, and the first use they make of it is to form insur
rections everywhere for the want of bread. We have had a
little riot here yesterday and the day before, and I am
told that some men have been killed, but the affair was so
distant from the quarter in which I reside that I know
nothing of the particulars."

By the ist of May the elections in Paris were nearly
over and the first victory of the people gained in the de-

7O DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. III.

cision of the Government that the Third Estate should
have a representation equal in numbers to that of the
orders of the nobles and clergy combined. On Sunday,
May 3rd, the Court and clergy at Versailles awaited the
result of the audience to be given to the deputies on Mon
day. A superb day dawned — Talleyrand says, " A heav
enly day." The beautiful lawn of the palace was crowded
with groups of gayly dressed officers and high dignita
ries of the church, each wearing the brilliant tokens of
his rank. Ladies decked in the brightest colors and
wearing the happiest smiles talked, sauntered about, and
sat on the stone benches along the alleys underneath the
delicate spring foliage. In striking contrast to these were
the groups of the members of the Third Estate — shunned
as if they bore the seeds of a pestilence among them.
They talked in whispers, hurriedly and earnestly — they
never smiled. Their costume of black hose and surtout
and short black cloak, to which they had been condemned
by the old sumptuary laws and which denoted the ple
beian, made the contrast even greater. Proudly they
carried themselves in this dress, but on their faces were
care and gloomy foreboding, and a sudden ominous silence
fell upon them whenever a stray member of the noblesse
happened to pass near.

On a balcony of the palace was the queen, surrounded
by a bevy of beauties of the Court, all in high spirits, dis
cussing the pageant of to-morrow, which to them had an
interest almost solely spectacular, just as they valued the
Salle des Menus as a room where their beauty could be seen
to the best advantage because it was lighted from above.
Mr. Morris speaks of visiting Madame de Lafayette and
finding that " they are on the move to Versailles. Lafay
ette is already there to pay his respects in quality of rep
resentative. I go and sit a while with Madame de Puisi-

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. /I

gnieu at her toilet. Then go to see Madame de Segur,
and amuse myself with the children, and leave her at her
toilet, to meet her again to-night at Madame de Puisi-
gnieu's, and she tells me she will stay the whole evening in
consequence of my being there instead of keeping another
engagement. . . . During the evening a gentleman enter
tains the ladies with the description of the hanging match
last Thursday. He is colonel of a regiment which was on
duty to attend the execution. We drink a great deal of
weak tea, which Madame de la Suze says very justly is du
lait coupe. Madame de Segur comes in while the com
pany are at supper, and I tell her very truly that I was
just going away but will now stay. The conversation in
our corner turns as usual upon politics, and among other
things on the want of grain. M. Necker is a good deal
blamed, but in my opinion very undeservedly. One fool
ish thing has indeed been committed, and that is the only
one which they do not find fault with. It is the order for
searching the barns of the farmers. The riot, also, is dis
missed. The Baron de Besenval, who gave the order for
quelling it, seems vastly pleased with his work. He or
dered, it seems, two pieces of cannon with the Swiss guards,
and when preparations were made for firing them the mob
took to their heels. It is therefore agreed that the Baron
is a great general — and as the women say so it would be
folly and madness to controvert their opinion. If I were
a military man I should incline to think that two four-
pounders could not be of much use in a city like this,
where the streets are in general so narrow as only to per
mit two carriages to go abreast, where the same narrow
streets are very crooked, and where the houses are in gen
eral four to six stories of stone walls. But as I am not
versed in the art of war it is my duty to agree with the
rest that a man must indeed be a great general who, with

72 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. III.

only 1,500 troops, infantry and cavalry, and, above all, with
only two pieces of artillery, could disperse ten or fifteen
thousand, chiefly spectators, but the seditious, to the
amount of three thousand, completely armed with sticks
and stones."

" Mr. Jefferson to-day [May 3d] tells me of a billet for the
audience to-morrow which Madame de Tesse reserves for
Mr. Short, and which he will get for me as Short cannot be
here. I urge on M. de Lafayette, who dines with us, the
election of the Duke of Orleans and give my reasons for
it. He tells me he will be elected. Mention to him a way
of placing M. Necker advantageously, which he thinks
would be very useful. Visit Madame de Chastellux, who
is so kind as to bring me the form of the ceremonial of
to-morrow from the Duchess of Orleans, and at the same
time a message. If she can, will pay a visit. Madame de
Chastellux proposes to obtain through her a ticket for the
audience for me. M. le Marechal de Segur comes in.
After some conversation, a message from the Duchess.
She cannot visit this evening, being too much engaged in
writing. I come home to go early to bed, as I must set
off early to-morrow for Versailles."

On Monday, May 4th, the grand procession of the depu
ties to the States-General formed and defiled through the
streets of Versailles to the Church of St. Louis. The same
costumes were enforced as in the last States-General,
more than one hundred and seventy years before, and the
same etiquette, but it was the last gala day of the old
monarchy. All ranks and classes were astir this morning.
All turned their faces toward Versailles — the goal of all
their hopes. Morris was among the number. He says :
11 At six this morning I set off for Versailles. Am over
taken on the road by M. le Normand and M. La Caze.
We alight and walk together through the streets till the

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 73

procession commences, except a little while that I sit with
Madame de Flahaut, who was so kind as to send and offer
me part of a window. While we wait for the procession
the conversation turns on the bal de 1'opera. M. de la
Ville Blanche tells me a story somewhat characteristic of
national manners. His wife and a lady, her friend, went
thither together. After a while they separated, and, meet
ing again, conversed a long time, the lady being perfectly
ignorant who the person was whom he had picked up, for
she was with him. After the ball was over and all three
had got home, they rallied the friend for being so taken
in. She could give no other reason for being so much de
ceived, but that madame was in company with monsieur
and therefore she could not possibly suppose it was his
wife."

While the lookers-on thoughtlessly talked, laughed, and
joked, careless of all but the gay scene, the procession
moved on. The nobles glittered in gorgeous dresses and
orders. The bishops, superb in violet robes, were followed
by their humble cures in modest garb. The Commons were
in black mantles, very plain, and hats without feathers.
Louis XVI. , beautiful Marie Antoinette, with her rnaids
of honor and the brilliant Court, completed the pict
ure. Morris says: "The procession is very magnificent,
through a double row of tapestry. Neither the King nor
Queen appears too well pleased. The former is repeatedly
saluted as he passes along with the Vive le Roi, but the latter
meets not a single acclamation. She looks, however, with
contempt on the scene in which she acts a part and seems
to say : ' For the present I submit but I shall have my time/
I find that my conjecture as to the Queen's temper and the
King's is right, when I make a short visit in the salon of
Madame de Chastellux later, and, as she is going to the
Duchess, she tells me that the King was vexed that the

74 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. III.

Duke of Orleans* should walk as representative and not
as prince of the blood, and also that his consort received
no mark of public satisfaction. She was exceedingly
hurt. Her conversation on meeting the Duchess of Orleans,
who, as well as the Duke, had been repeatedly applauded :
' Madame, il y a une demi-heure que je vous ai attendue
chez moi.' ' Madame, en vous attendant ici (at the Church
of Notre Dame), j'ai obei a 1'ordre qu'on m'a envoye de la
part du Roi.' ' Eh bien, madame, je n'ai point de place
pour vous, comme vous n'etes pas venue.' 'C'est juste,
madame. Aussi, ai-je des voitures a moi qui m'attendent.'
I cannot help feeling the mortification the poor Queen
meets with, for I see only the woman, and it seems un
manly to treat a woman with unkindness. Madame de
Chastellux tells me a sprightly reply of Madame Adelaide,
the King's aunt, who, when the Queen in a fit of resentment,
speaking of this nation, said, * Ces indignes Francais ! '
exclaimed, ' Dites indignes, madame.' The Duchess of
Orleans could not get a billet for me, but the Duchesse de
Bourbon has promised to try, and if she succeeds will send
it to the Palais Royal this evening, and in that case Ma
dame de Chastellux will receive it from the Duchess of
Orleans and send it to me. Return home, receive a note
from Mr. Jefferson assuring me that I can get a ticket
from Madame de Tesse who has reserved one for Mr.
Short, who is not arrived. This has been so fine a day
that walking about without my hat has got my face
scorched exceedingly, and both my forehead and eyes are
inflamed."

The 5th of May, the day long looked for, had come, and
royalty welcomed the national estates with all pomp and

* Duke of Orleans, cousin of the king and afterward the celebrated revo
lutionary Philippe Egalite. Never a favorite of the queen, he was tolerated
at Court only on account of his wife.

1789-1 GOUVERNEUR MORRIS.

75

splendor in the great Salle des Menus. The king, with
his ministers of state in front, the queen and princes of
the blood at his side, sat on a magnificent throne of pur
ple and gold. Morris says he reached Versailles early,
and at a little after eight got into the hall. " I sit there in
a cramped situation till after twelve, during which time the
different members are brought in and placed, one ' bail-
liage ' after the other. When M. Necker comes in he is
loudly and repeatedly clapped, and so is the Duke of Or
leans ; also a Bishop who has long lived in his diocese,
and practised there what his profession enjoins. Another
Bishop, who preached yesterday a sermon which I did
not hear, is applauded, but those near me say that this ap
plause is unmerited. An old man who refused to dress in
the costume prescribed for the Tiers, and who appears in
his farmer's habit, receives a long and loud plaudit. M.
de Mirabeau is hissed, though not loudly. The King at
length arrives, and takes his seat ; the Queen on his left,
two steps lower than him. He makes a short speech,
very proper, and well spoken or rather read. The tone
and manner have all the fierte which can be expected or
desired from the blood of the Bourbons. He is interrupt
ed in the reading by acclamations so warm and of such
lively affection that the tears start from my eyes in spite
of myself. The Queen weeps or seems to weep, but not
one voice is heard to wish her well. I would certainly
raise my voice if I were a Frenchman ; but I have no
right to express a sentiment, and in vain solicit those who
are near me to do it. After the King has spoken he takes
off his hat, and when he puts it on again his nobles imi
tate his example. Some of the Tiers do the same, but
by degrees they take them off again. The King then takes
off his hat. The Queen seems to think it wrong, and a
conversation seems to pass in which the King tells her he

76 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. ill.

chooses to do it whether consistent or not consistent with
the ceremonial ; but I could not swear to this, being too
far distant to see very distinctly, much less to hear. The
nobles uncover by degrees, so that, if the ceremonial re
quires three manoeuvres, the troops are not yet properly
drilled. After the King's speech and the covering and
uncoverings, the Garde des Sceaux makes one much
longer, but it is delivered in a very ungraceful manner,
and so indistinctly that nothing can be judged of it by
me — until it is in print. When he has done, M. Necker
rises. He tries to play the orator, but he plays it very ill.
The audience salute him with a long, loud plaudit. Ani
mated by their approbation, he falls into action and em
phasis, but a bad accent and an ungraceful manner de
stroy much of the effect which ought td follow from a
composition written by M. Necker and spoken by M.
Necker. He presently asks the King's leave to employ a
clerk, which being granted, the clerk proceeds in the lect
ure. It is very long. It contains much information and
many things very fine, but it is too long, and has many
repetitions and too much compliment, and what the French
call emphase. The plaudits were loud, long, and incessant.
These will convince the King and Queen of the national sen
timent, and tend to prevent the intrigue against the pres
ent administration, at least for a while. After the speech
is over the King rises to depart, and receives a long and
affecting Vive le roi. The Queen rises, and to my great
satisfaction she hears for the first time in several months
the sound of, Vive la Reine. She makes a low courtesy and
this produces a louder acclamation, and that a lower cour
tesy. As soon as I can disengage myself from the crowd,
I find my servant and I go where my carriage put up, in
order to proceed to Paris, being tolerably hungry and not
inclined to ask anyone for a dinner, as I am convinced

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 77

that more such requests will be made this day than will be
agreeable to those who have dinners to bestow. I find
that my horses are not harnessed, and that I am at a trai-
teur's. I ask for dinner, and am shown into a room
where there is a table d'hote, and some of the Tiers are sat
down to it. We enter into conversation, talk of the man
ner of voting. Tell them that I think when their new
constitution is formed it will be well for them to vote/^r
ordre, but in forming it to vote par tete. Those who best
understand the thing incline to this opinion, but they are
from Brittany, and one of them inveighs so strongly
against the tyranny of the nobles, and attacks his brother
so warmly, that the others come about, and one, a noble
representing the Tiers, is so vociferous against his order
that I am convinced he meant to rise by his eloquence,
and finally will, I expect, vote with the opinion of the
Court, let that be what it may. I rise, wish them very sin
cerely a perfect accord and good understanding with each
other, and set off for Paris."

A week later the weather grew hot, and the dust and
dirt became unbearable ; even the garden of the Palais
Royal "is," says Morris, "as dusty as a highway and
absolutely intolerable." Of the other intolerable nui
sances of the Palais Royal, the lawlessness and vice, and
the oratorical efforts of the agitators, Morris makes
little mention ; but evidently Paris had lost some of its
attraction, and, glad to escape from it to the cool of the
country, he went to the home of M. Le Coulteux. "The
country through which I drive to reach Lucennes," he
says (May 9th), " is highly cultivated, and on the sides of the
hills under the fruit trees I observe currant and goose
berry bushes, also grape vines. Probably this mode of cul
tivating the vine would succeed in America. M. Le Coul-
teux's house was formerly the property of a prince of

78 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. III.

Conde, built in the old style but tolerably convenient, and
the situation delicious. His mother and sister arrive in
the evening, and his cousin De Canteleu. The Tiers con
tinue to meet and to do nothing, as they are desirous of
voting par tete, and the other orders do not join them.
Sunday morning [May loth] we drive to the aqueduct of
Marli and ascend to the top. The view is exquisite — the
Seine winding along through a valley very highly culti
vated, innumerable villages, at a distance the domes of
Paris on one side, the Palace of St. Germain, very near,
on the other, a vast forest behind and the Palace of
Marli in the front of it embowered in a deep shade, the
bells from a thousand steeples at different distances mur
muring through the air, the fragrance of the morning,
the vernal freshness of the air — oh, how delicious ! I
stand this moment on a vast monument of human pride,
and behold every gradation from wretchedness to mag
nificence in the scale of human existence. We breakfast
between ten and eleven, and walk over the garden, and
upon our return ride to Marli. The garden is truly royal,
and yet pleasing, the house tolerable, the furniture in
different. We are told by the Swiss that they are prepar
ing for His Majesty's reception. Return to the house of
M. L. Le Coulteux and dress. On entering the salon our
company is increased by the representatives of Normandy.
We had already received an accession of a banker and his
two sisters at breakfast. At dinner we have a political
conversation which I continue with the Normans after
dinner, and we finally agree in our opinions. Discuss, by
way of an episode, the propriety of an India company.
This afternoon we visit the Pavilion of Madame du Barry.*

* After Louis XV. died the young King Louis XVI pensioned Madame
du Barry, besides allowing her the free use of her ill-gotten wealth. She
was excluded from appearing at Court and virtually exiled from Paris to the
"Chateau aux Dames." His forbearance was noticed by her following as

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 79

This temple is consecrated to the immorality of Louis
Quinze. It is in fine taste and the finish is exquisite ;
the view most delightful, and yet very extensive. In re
turning from thence we see Madame du Barry. She is
long passed the day of beauty, and is accompanied by an
old coxcomb, the Prevot des Marchands.* They bend
their course towards the Pavilion, perhaps to worship on
those altars which the sovereign raised. From the Pa
vilion we ascend the hill and go between the house and
the fishpond, which smells abominably, to see the villagers
dance. Returned to the house I have a talk with Laurejit
Le Coulteux on the subject of the purchase of the debt
due to France. He wishes me to have an interview with
M. Necker. This matter has hitherto met with great
obstacles and difficulties, from the peculiar temper of M.
Necker, who is what may be called a cunning man, and
therefore those acquainted with him do not choose to
come forward at once openly, because they are certain
that he would first assume the merit of having previously
known everything which they communicate, and, secondly,
would take advantage of such communications to defeat
their object if he could get by any means any better terms
from others to whom he should start the idea. To deal
with such a person requires caution and delicacy. Lau
rent says he cannot get M. Necker to finish the business
they already have to do with him, but will, if I please, get
me an interview with him. He thinks it must be man
aged merely as a matter of finance, in which I own that
my opinion has from the first accorded with his. I take

more than could have been expected by her, owing to the levity with which
she had always treated the Dauphin.

* The Prevots des Marchands were officers of the highest antiquity. The
appointment was made by the king, sometimes for two years, or renewed
every year at his pleasure, and their jurisdiction extended over the revenues
of the Hotel de Ville, the quays and wharves of the river.

So DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. III.

M. Laurent with me, and on our return to Paris he vents
a good deal of ill humor on M. Necker, who has kept him
a long time in play and now, as he suspects, (I believe
with truth) keeps De Canteleu in the same position. He
tells me that their object is to get an order for money
acknowledgedly due. He has an invitation to dine with
M. Necker and is then, if the conversation be turned upon
that topic, to recommend to M. Necker an interview with
me. After a pleasant ride of two hours we reach Paris."

Back again in Paris, the old routine commenced, writ
ing, receiving innumerable visitors, and making calls in
return. "In the evening [May nth] I go," he says, "and
sit with Madame de Chastellux. She receives a message
from the Duchess and sends her answer that I am with
her, and have charged her with a commission, etc. This
is to make my thanks for her Royal Highness's kind at
tention in sending to Versailles for a ticket of admission
to the opening of the States-General. In a few minutes
she comes in, tells me that she came on purpose to see me,
observes that I have been out of town, hopes to see me
frequently at Madame de Chastellux's, is sorry the pres
ent visit must be so short, but is going with Madame de
Chastellux to take a ride and make some visits. To all
this I can make no reply, but by look and manner expres
sive of deep humility and a grateful sense of the honor
done to me. In fact, my tongue has never been sufficiently
practised in this jargon, and always asks my heart what
it shall say, and while this last, after deliberation, refers to
my head for counsel, the proper moment has passed. As
I think I understand her Royal Highness, and arn toler
ably safe on the side of vanity, there remains but one port
to guard, and that is shut up. She has perhaps the hand
somest arm in France, and from habit takes off her glove,
and has always occasion to touch some part of her face so

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 8 1

as to show the hand and arm to advantage. Call on Ma
dame Dumolley, who is at chess. Madame Cabarus* comes
in. I tell her that it is the fault of La Gaze that I have
not paid my respects at her Hotel. She tells me I need
no introducer. She has a beautiful hand, and very fine
eyes. These in a very intelligible manner say that she
has no objection to receiving the assurance how fine they
are. She goes soon to Madrid, and will be glad to see me
both here and there. Slip away without staying to sup
per and return home. The weather is extremely warm
and like to continue so. The spring of Europe, which has
been much vaunted by the natives from affection, and the
prejudices which it occasions, and by travellers from the
vanity of appearing to have seen or tasted or smelt or felt
something purer or newer or sweeter or softer than their
neighbors — the spring of Europe has reduced itself, this
year at least, to one week, namely, the three last days of
April and the first four of May, and in this short spring
Parker, by changing his waistcoat, has taken the rheuma
tism."

Thursday, May i4th, Morris spent at Versailles ; called
on several of his fair friends, and "in my way about the
town," he declares, " I wander to the Queen's apartments,
which are furnished in very good taste. Pass from thence
to the chapel, in which there is just as much devotion as I
expected. Call on Madame de Segur and sit a while at
her toilet. She says she is heartily tired of Versailles,
which I believe. She shows me a declaration of the clergy
of Paris — highly monarchical, and which will do them no
good. After leaving her, a shower of rain arising, I take
refuge in the antechamber of M. de Montmorin, who asks

* Madame Cabarus was the wife of Count Francois Cabarus, who in 1782
established the bank of San Carlos, at Madrid. Cabarus was arrested in
1790, but was released, and in 1797 appointed Minister Plenipotentiary at the
Congress of Rastadt.
6

82 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. III.

me if I am come to dine with him, tq which I reply in the
negative. He tells me I must come some day, which I
promise to do. Dine with M. de Lafayette — we have here
the politics of the day. Call on Madame de Montvoisseux,
who asks me to go with her party to the Queen's gardens
at Petit Trianon. We walk about the garden a good deal.
Royalty has here endeavored at great expense to conceal
itself from its own eye. But the attempt is vain. A dairy
furnished with the porcelain of Sevres is a semblance too
splendid for rural life. The adjoining muddy pond, on
the other hand, but poorly resembles a lake. On the
whole this garden is handsome, and yet the money applied
in making it has been but badly spent, and would be
not badly spared. I observe a number of representatives
to the States-General walking about in it. Perhaps there
is not one of them who thinks of what ought to strike
them all, that this expense and others like this have occa
sioned their meeting. Return pretty late to town and sup
with Capellis and his fair aunt, Madame de Flahaut. An
other lady is there, who derives much pleasure from the
sound of her own voice. The day has been extremely
hot ; a shower in the evening does not render the air much
cooler."

"This morning [May i6th] is windy, cold, rainy, and
disagreeable ; but in consistence with my arrangements in
concert with M. Le Coulteux, I set off for Lucennes, and
arrive there a little after two o'clock. He and his family
have been expected for two days, but none are come, and
as the cook has not made his appearance it is evident that
he will not be out to dinner. Go to a tavern where, with
very promising appearances, the utmost the house can
aiford is a mackerel, a pigeon, fresh eggs, and asparagus.
The first has probably been too long on his travels and ac
quired too much of the haut gotit for a plain American.

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 83

This circumstance occasions the death of the solitary
pigeon, who is thereby released from the confinement in
which he was starving. The cookery and the provisions
are worthy of each other — so that this day at least I shall
run no risk of indigestion. Mine host, in a laudable zeal
for the honor of his house, makes up in the bill what was
deficient in the dinner. By this means the dishes make a
very respectable figure. The poor little pigeon is rated
at something more than a shilling, and the bunch of spin
dled asparagus at about three shillings, which is not un
reasonable—considering the eggs are at about threepence
apiece. After this repast, go to Malmaison, where all is
topsy-turvy, a strong smell of paint in the house, and add
ed to that a dish of cabbage and vinegar boiling, which
gives another smell not a whit more pleasant. Walk over
the garden, which is agreeable. Madame Dumolley takes
me in her 'whiskey,' and we have a mighty pleasant ride
in one of the Royal parks. I take tea with Madame, and
return to town after a very pleasant day."

Going a few days later to call on Madame de Suze, he
found her "in a scene of great distress" — which he de
scribes with a touch, at least, of humor. " Her lapdog be
ing very ill, the pauvre bete has suffered now for a long
time. At first it had the maladie napolitaine ; for this it
was sent to the doctor of dogs, who by a course of mercu
rials eradicated this disease, and returned him as complete
a skeleton as ever came out of the powdering tub. The
kind mistress, by her care and assiduity, soon brought him
up to a tolerable embonpoint, when, lo ! another indispo
sition. This is tres grave, et voila Madame, la fille de
chambre et un des valets, qui ne s'occupent que de cela.
At three different times in my short visit: 'Jevous de-
mande bien pardon, M. Morris — mais c'est une chose si de-
solante que de voir souffrir comme ca une pauvre bete.'

84 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. III.

' Ah ! Madame, ne me faites point de vos excuses, je vous en
prie, pour des soins si aimables, aussi merites que toutes
vos attentions.' At length, by peeping into his back, she
discovers a little maggot. ' Ah, mon Dieu ! Mais, voyez
done!' I leave them to go to dine with M. la Breteche.
We have the envoy of Saxe-Gotha and M. de Durfort
of the guards. After dinner, walk to the pavilion and
sit some time. The tutor of the son of M. de Durfort,
who was with her husband some time at Florence, gives
us a long account of Italy, during which I am so unfortu
nate as to fall asleep, sitting next to Madame. Among
other things, he mentions the want of cleanliness among
the Italians as very shocking, and speaks of it with the
same air of horror which some people put on when they
notice a similar defect in the French."

J789-J GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 85

CHAPTER IV.

Morris surprised at Parisian manners and customs. Tea in the Palais
Royal. Visit to Romainville. M. de Beaujolais. Morris writes
verses to the Duchess of Orleans. Careless driving. Made a mem
ber of the Club of Valois. Interviews with Judges. Note on the to
bacco contracts. The Dauphin's death. States-General more than
ever embroiled. Morris stands for Houdon's statue of Washington.
Strictures on the Bishop d'Autun. Visit to Raincy. The clergy
join the Tiers. The Salle des Menus closed. Bath in the Tennis
Court. Great excitement in Paris. Morris's sentiments quoted. His
interest in France. Necker offers to resign. The mob at Versailles.
Inflammatory publications at the Palais Royal. The nobles join the
other orders. Revolt among the guards. The Abbaye broken open.
The king terrified.

IT is impossible not to see the eyebrows slightly raised
and the look of surprise on Morris's face as he notes
the manners and customs of the ladies of Paris. " What
would have induced one of my countrywomen to place
herself in such a position ? " he says, on one occasion,
when a very extraordinary request was made to him, hardly
suitable for ears polite. While sitting one evening with a
friend in the Palais Royal, drinking lemonade and tea,
" the waiter comes to tell me that two ladies are without who
wish to speak to me. These, I find, are Madame de Bour-
sac and Madame d'Espanchall, whom we had met before at
the Tuileries. A good deal of light, trivial conversation,
in which these ladies intimate to me that their nuptial
bonds do not at all straighten their conduct, and it would
seem that either would be content to form an intrigue.

86 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. IV.

As they can have no real want of lovers, and as they can
have no prepossession in my favor, this conduct evidently
resolves itself into some other motive — probably a view to
somej'0/is cadeaux. As I have a vast fund of indifference on
the subject, I say a number of handsome nothings, and as
the ladies are relieved by my presence from the scandal of
being alone and the ennui of a female tete-a-tete, I shall
have the credit with them of being more agreeable, et
plus homme d' esprit, than I am, by a great deal."

To fulfil an engagement made with Madame de Chastel-
lux to visit the Marquis de Segur, Morris went to her
apartments on the day appointed and found her in at
tendance upon the Duchess at her prayers. She brought
a message from her Royal Highness of regret that Mr.
Morris had not gone to see her at her apartment, and that
she would be glad to see him any morning. " I agree t6
pay a visit to her with Madame de Chastellux. We get
into my carriage, and go to Romainville, the seat of
M. de Segur. The view is very fine from the house and
from different parts of the garden, at the foot of which is
a charming little cottage. In the garden I remark an
obelisk dedicated to friendship. It is erected by the
Baron de Besenval (I suppose), who was most intimately
the friend of Madame de Segur as well as with the Mare-
chal. She, with an unusual degree of candor, avowed her
passion to her husband, and all three lived very happily
together until her death. The present Vicomte de Segur
is son to the Baron, and his elder brother is supposed to
be son to the Marechal. The Comtesse de Segur does
very well the honors of the house, being a very sensible
and, indeed, a lovely woman. The Prince and Princess
Galitzen* dine this day at Romainville. He tells me he

* Prince Dimitri Galitzen, a Russian diplomatist and author, at that time
Resident Minister at the Hague.

1789-1 GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 8/

has been from home now about seven years. We return
to town and I visit Madame de Flahaut, who insists on my
spending the evening with Madame de Boursac, which I
agree to. A good deal of chit-chat, and after supper M.
de Boursac comes in, and then M. d'Espanchall, whose
lady is also there, and the conversation degenerates into
politics. The women prattle a plenty of nonsense about
the election of Paris, which it seems is to be disputed, and
thereby put their two husbands out of patience."

The promised visit to her Royal Highness, the Duchess
of Orleans, was accomplished on Saturday, May 23d. "At
ii o'clock," he says, "with Madame de Chastellux I go to
her apartments. She is at breakfast, the Vicomte de Se-
gur sitting next to her. If I guess right his attentions are
more agreeable to her than she is aware of. His inquisi
tive eye asks how I am with Madame de Chastellux, to
which I answer by a firmness of insipid countenance per
fectly in harmony with the fact that I have never yet har
bored an idea respecting her which would derogate from
a vestal, and this not from virtue entirely but very much
from indifference, and yet she is young and handsome and
sensible. What is the reason of this? The Duchess also,
by an insinuating glance, seems to say, ' I find you are vast
ly attentive there and I am glad of it.' She is vastly mis
taken and I am glad of that. Her younger son comes in,

M. de Beaujolais, a fine, sprightly boy. Madame de ,

one of her women, enters limping. She had something on
the toe which she has been extracting and has cut to the
quick. I tell her, ' Madame, quand on est touche au vif
on s'en repent longtemps.' An old devout lady who is
present, taking the thing with great simplicity in the lit
eral sense, adds, in the true matron tone, ' et surtout au
pied.' There is a conserve on table which the Duchess
offers, but I decline, as not liking 4les choses sucrees.' "

88 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. IV.

There was keen enjoyment to be got out of a drive with
a charming, gay companion like Madame de Flahaut,
"through the unfrequented parts of the Bois de Boulogne,
where a number of deer skipping about contrast very
finely with the belles and beaux who are grouped together
in different parts." Again, to wander, as he says, " alone in
the garden of Malmaison before dinner, and dream of my
country and converse with my absent friends, and by soli
tude to bring my mind back to its natural tone. Then in
the evening I go to see Madame de Chastellux and write
for her some lines that occurred to me whilst driving to
day, but which I tell her are not an impromptu, though I
might give them the air of one. She thinks, or at least
says she thinks, them very handsome. I agree very hon
estly that they are well turned and musical, but I cannot
agree that they have so much merit as she seems to allow.

" If Beauty so sweet in all gentleness drest,

In loveliness, virtue, arrayed ;
By the graces adorned, by the muses carest,
By lofty ambition obeyed ;

"Ah! who shall escape from the gold-painted dart

When Orleans touches the bow ?
Who the softness resist of that sensible heart
Where love and benevolence glow ?

"Thus we dream of the Gods, who with bounty supreme

Our humble petitions accord.
Our love they excite, and command our esteem,
Tho' only at distance adored."

"A few days later," he says, "when I call at the Palais
Royal to say good-bye to Madame de Chastellux, who is
going to Raincy for the summer, she tells me she gave
my verses to the Duchess, who was much pleased ; found
them very handsome, but not just. She does not merit,

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 89

etc. In reply, I beg her Royal Highness to be informed
that she has at least the security that they were not a pre
meditated compliment but the result of my reflections
during a solitary ride, and that I shall not think so well of
her as I have done if she is not convinced of the justice of
my verses, which in my opinion forms their principal, if
not their only merit, for she must know better than any
other person whether she merits the good opinion there
expressed."

" A day in the country [May 24th]. Very warm weather
and dusty. A large company at Lucennes. Among them
M. Delville, who speaks of the bad quality of the tobacco
sent to him by Mr. [Robert] Morris. I explain to him
the nature of the inspection laws, etc., and I tell him that
I do not complain of the conduct of the farm, which has
been candid and generous, but that the Committee of
Berni has occasioned all the mischief. In the evening I
drive to Malmaison. Madame Dumolley is very civil, but
I must go to see her, I find, only sur les jours de fete, Qu. :
Is that because she has not at other times a dinner she
would wish to exhibit, or wishes not, at other times, to be
broken in upon, or wishes to save the risk of a visit when
she is not at home ? The last is the reason assigned, but
the second is that which I believe iru At a little before ten
I set off for Paris ; and my coachman, being asleep, I am
nearly overset in one of the ditches. After several efforts
to make him awaken, he still continuing to drive wild, I
stop him and ask if he is drunk. Tell him if he is, then to
get down from the box and let my servant drive ; but, if he
is sober, then to go on and to pay more attention, for that
if he oversets the carriage I will instantly run him through
the body. This has the desired effect, and brings him to
the use of his senses. How idle to suppose that man is a
reasonable creature. If' he had run into the ditch, which

90 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. IV.

is dry, and about six foot perpendicular, it is a thousand
to one that I should have been in a condition not to act,
and he not to suffer, but this is a danger to which by habit
he is familiarized. The other by its novelty makes im
pression, and he does not consider, at least until he is
fairly awake, that I have no weapon but my cane to exe
cute the threat."

Morris's clear views on general subjects, and his par
ticular knowledge of the politics of Europe as well as of
France, had already won for him a reputation which was
not always to him a wholly agreeable one, for his time was
valuable, and yet the interruptions to it, springing from
his popularity, were incessant. "To-day" [May 2yth],
he says, " I am disturbed immediately after breakfast by
General Sir How Whitford-Dalrymple and a Mr. Davis.
They stay a long time, and enter with much solicitude into
politics. As far as their symptoms may go they indicate
great attention of the British Cabinet to what passes here
regarding the States-General, etc. I tell them that if the
King of Prussia were worth a farthing, the English might
on the death of the Emperor play a very good game ; viz.,
upon the election of the Archduke, put up the Electors
of Bavaria and, giving Saxony to Prussia, take for the Stad-
holder the Austrian Netherlands, which with some of the
little Bishoprics in the neighborhood would form a re
spectable monarchy, and by this means Britain would
form for herself an extensive barrier, including Hanover,
and would hem in her enemy on every side almost.
Whereas if France establishes a free government, she may
easily exchange with the house of Austria for something
to be acquired elsewhere, or for money, the right to Flan
ders — and then, annexing both Flanders and Holland, she
will become indisputably mistress of the fate of Europe ;
that Holland (that is, the United Netherlands) is now in a

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 91

position that cannot endure, and her fate depends on the
measure of the moment ; that if France disposes herself to
act, the first step will be to secure an alliance with us at
any rate, because on our European ally will depend the
fate of the West Indies, etc. We shall see at a future day
what will be the effect of such suggestions. Go to dine
with Madame Faucault, the daughter of my old friend
James Leray de Chaumont. She is at her toilette and is,
I am told, a woman of gallantry. Dine and chatter poli
tics. Madame Leray de Chaumont* talks to me very
sensibly, considering that she is said to be crazy. After
dinner I walk in the Champs Elysees, and meet M. de
Durfort, who tells me the number of troops in the neigh
borhood of Paris is to prevent tumult if the States-General
are dissolved ; laugh at this idea, which shows only the
wishes of himself and his friends. After leaving him I
call on Madame de la Suze. She is just going to dress,
but that is nothing. * M. Morris me permettra de faire
ma toilette?' 'Certainly.' So we have the whole perform
ance of undressing and dressing except the shift. Finish
the evening in the salon of Madame de Flahaut, where
I meet Madame de Boursac, who tells me that I am in
scribed a member of the Club de Valois on the nomina
tion of M. de Boursac."

With unabated energy Morris continued his efforts to

* Madame Leray de Chaumont was Miss Grace Coxe of Philadelphia. M.
Leray de Chaumont met her while he was in America after the peace. She
is reported to have fallen in love with the Frenchman, and declared that if
he refused to marry her it would break her heart. He thereupon told her
tnat his attentions to her were marked by no more fervor than were those he
paid to others of her sex, but that if she felt so strongly on the subject, he
would write to his parents for permission to marry her. Morris escorted
her back to America in 1798, and the subsquent history of her peculiarities
would be amusing if it were not that she subjected her children, and Mor
ris, who was by their father, during his absence in France, appointed guar
dian, to ceaseless annoyances.

92 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. IV.

bring about an accommodation with the farmers-gen
eral and Robert Morris in the affair of the tobacco. But
the dreaded suit became inevitable, and, in order to urge
it forward, he was advised to visit his judges. This he
accordingly did, and in the course of the day obtained
assurances from the grocer, that the court was " impartial,
and alike uninfluenced by farmers and grand seigneurs,
that he would do everything in his power for the cause,
etc. ; " from the vender of skins, who was so surprised by
a chariot stopping at his door "and a servant in livery in
quiring for him, without anything of the humble suitor
in his countenance," that his " honor was brought into
the street " by the unusual proceeding, a promise to
do everything in his power ; and from the amiable M.
Levi, the vintner, a promise to mention the matter to
his brethren at the earliest opportunity, with many assu
rances that " he believes my suit to be good, and that they
desire to give the best reception to strangers, etc.; that of
course a winter passage of a thousand leagues is not un
dertaken on light ground by a man of common under
standing, etc. I of course assure him that there is doubt
less every reason for confiding in the justice of the French,
yet a stranger opposed to a powerful company is at a dis
advantage." After interviews with the bookseller, the
woollen draper, the goldsmith, and the furrier, Morris
says he was quite overcome by the ludicrous side of the
picture, " which is so strongly painted to my own eyes
that I cannot forbear laughing at myself, and having at
length brought this disagreeable scene to an end, as a
means of refreshment I utilize a ticket which I have for
the Pare Monceau, where I walk a considerable time. It
has merit, and has cost at least as much as it deserves.
The gardener, an Englishman, and believing me to be one,
is so kind as to direct a sentinel to find me out, and then

1789] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 93

comes himself and offers to show me the hot-house, etc.
This is vastly polite and, indeed, kind, but perhaps the
expectation of a little French coin from an English pocket
may have had some influence. As this, however, would
be an ungenerous suspicion, I leave him the full gratifica
tion of the patriotic sentiment, lavish a profusion of com
pliments, but not a single sou. After a very magnificent
supper and a game of whist at the house of M. Bontin, I
propose to him the supplying of the marine with provi
sions, and offer him a concern. He objects his office, to
which I reply that he need not appear in it, but that, be
sides, it is a most honorable and praiseworthy pursuit to
obtain supplies for the Crown upon easier terms, and
thereby to cement more strongly an alliance of infinite
consequence to France. We are to talk further on this
subject."

The promised visit was paid to M. de Montmorin at
Versailles on Friday, the 2pth of May. " His porter in a
surly tone tells me I am come too late, just when the Count
is going to dinner, to which I reply by desiring he will
tell his master I wish to speak to him. Stay in the ante
chamber pretty late. At length dinner is announced, and
I deliver the letter which I have kept so long, with an
apology, which is well received. Go up to dinner. Com
mon States-General chit-chat. The dinner lasts long,
as we wait for a gentleman who is in session of the no
blesse. On quitting the Count he very kindly regrets that
he sees so little of me this day, which compliment might
have been spared, as it depended on him to have had more
particular conversation. He desires a repetition of my
visit, and that I would consider his house as my home
whenever I am there."

" This morning [May 3oth], being rather broken to pieces
by business interruptions, I applied the fragments of the

94 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. IV.

day to seeing curiosities with Madame de Flahaut as my
companion. First the Gobelins, which, after all that
has been said in their favor, are an idle kind of art, be
cause they produce pieces which are more costly and less
beautiful than paintings, and though in one sense they
last long, yet in another they do not, because the colors
fade. For the rest, it is a wonderful operation. From the
Gobelins, in the gallery of which are some excellent paint
ings, we go to the King's botanical gardens. Having no
knowledge of botany except to distinguish onions and
cabbages from oak trees, I can pretend to no judgment of
this garden, which is, I daresay, excellent. It is in some
respects handsome, and, taking the whole together, plants,
buildings, etc., must have cost a great deal. Our exami
nation is very cursory. From thence we go to Notre
Dame. The altar piece is exquisite, as are several of the
paintings. This reverend Gothic building is well worth
examination. Dine with the Marechal de Castries and
explain to him the affair of the claim set up against the
farm, and I am to make a note out and give it to him. I
tell him that a man of sense, decision, and firmness is
necessary to the King in the present moment to extricate
him from the difficulties in which they are plunged.
Also make some rough sketches of the means. After
dinner I call on Mr. Jefferson and sit a good while.
General conversation on character, politics, etc. I think
he does not form very just estimates of character but
rather assigns too many to the humble rank of fools,
whereas in life the gradations are infinite and each indi
vidual has his peculiarities of fort and feeble. Go to
Madame de Flahaut's, spend the evening, and talk a good
deal of loose, light nonsense."

"On my way to Malmaison to-day [May 3ist], passing
along the Champs Elysees, I stop a moment to speak to

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 95

Mr. Jefferson and General Dalrymple. They tell me that
the Conciliatory Commission at Versailles have parted
without doing anything, notwithstanding a very florid
harangue of M. Necker. This man's vanity must be ex
cessive, to think that he can influence by his eloquence,
and especially when the esprit et intfret de corps are in
such powerful operation. At Malmaison meet De Can-
teleu as I expected. I impart my intention of submitting
the decision of the tobacco claim to M. Necker himself,
which, under all circumstances, he thinks well of. He
thinks the indecision of character which marks M. Necker
will prevent him from agreeing to our plan about the
American debt. Says the treasury is in blast for June and
July ; that M. Necker knows nothing of administration,
is, in effect, ignorant of mankind, etc."

The note on the subject of the tobacco contracts, and
a future contract for the French claim on America,
Morris prepared on the ist of June. "This is a laborious
task," he says [June ist], "for me, as it is in French. One
of M. Le Coulteux's principal clerks comes to examine the
work and see if it is French. He finds but little to cor
rect." The next day the note was presented to M. de
Castries. "He finds it very well. He distinguishes be
tween the debt for which France is or was guarantee and
that which arises from actual advances, and it seems that
on the former they would make no abatement. Evidently
he has conversed on this subject with M. Necker. He
will have the note copied with a small alteration and will
give it to the minister. Thinks that, beginning with the
pros and proceeding afterwards to the other points, we
may finally have the whole connected together. "

Dining, June 2d, with the Marechal de Segur at his
country-place, Morris met the Archbishop of Bordeaux.
" He is, they say, an intimate friend of M. Necker's.

96 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. IV.

Converse with him a little on politics, and propose that
the King should cut the knot which the States cannot
untie ; viz., that he should prescribe to them the future
constitution and leave them to consider it, etc. He says
he thinks it must end in some such way. Return to town
and in my way take a view (from the heights) of this vast
city. It covers an immense tract of country indeed.
Take a turn in the Palais Royal and go to supper with
Madame de Flahaut. Confoundedly bored and find it ex
tremely difficult to keep myself awake."

" This afternoon [June 3d] I go to see Mr. Jefferson.
We have some political conversation. He seems to be out
of hope of anything being done to purpose by the States-
General. This comes of having too sanguine expectations
of a downright republican form of Government. The
literary people here, observing the abuses of a monarch
ical form, imagine that everything must go better in pro
portion as it recedes from the present establishments, and
in their closets they make men exactly suited to their sys
tems. But unluckily they are such as exist nowhere else,
least of all in France. I am more than ever persuaded
that the form which at first appeared to me most fit for
them is that which will be adopted, not exactly according
to my idea, but probably in some better manner. After
refreshing myself with a cup of tea at the cafe in the
Palais Royal, I go to the Club Valois, of which I have
been chosen a member. There is nothing remarkable
here. Call on Madame de Flahaut, where I am engaged
to sup. Find her with her feet in hot water, sick, and has
had an ague and fever, and her head is very heavy. She
desires me to prescribe for her. I recommend a grain
and a half of tartar emetic — and after that bark is to be
taken."

" To-day [June 4th] the news of the Dauphin's death was

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 97

announced, and Mr. Short tells us that the States-General
are more embroiled than ever. Mr. Jefferson, with whom
I take a drive, requests, on the part of M. Houdon,* that I
would stand to-morrow for the figure of General Washing
ton, to which I consent."

Houdon was working at this time on the statue of Wash
ington which now adorns the City Hall at Richmond, Vir
ginia, but there 'seems to have been no particular reason,
other than that of friendship and the fact of his being
a countryman of Washington's, that Morris should have
been called upon to make a vicarious victim of himself.
The fact of his devoted friendship for Washington, however,
was reason enough to obtain his consent to stand for the
statue, "although," as he says, "it, being the humble em
ployment of a manikin, was rather irksome. This is
literally taking the advice of St. Paul to be all things
to all men. Promise M. Houdon to attend next Tues
day morning at half-past eight to have my bust taken,
which he desires, to please himself, for this is the answer
to rny question what he wants with my bust — a question
dictated with a view to obviate any future demand of pay
ment on my part. Later in the afternoon I go to the
Palais Royal, and pay a visit of respectful inquiry to Ma
dame de Flahaut. She is better. From there go to the
Club Valois. The Tiers have agreed to proceed to the
verification of the powers, * par ordre sauf a considerer
par des commissaires les doutes qui — .' This is ' une petite
victoire remportee par la noblesse, qui s'en glorifie beau-
coup.' From the club go to supper at the Baron de Be-

* Jean Antoine Houdon, a French sculptor, was born at Versailles in 1741.
About the year 1785 Dr. Franklin gave him a commission to execute the
marble statue of Washington which is now in the State House at Richmond,
Virginia. He came to Philadelphia to obtain the model of this work. His
reputation was increased later in life by his statues of Voltaire and Cicero,
and his busts of Rousseau, Franklin, Napoleon, and Ney. He died in 1825.

7

98 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. IV.

senval's ; nothing worth notice, except that in the salon we
have a fire, which seems disagreeable to nobody."

"The States-General seem to approach a little more
toward accommodation, I hear to-night [June 6th], in Ma
dame de Flahaut's salon, from 1'Eveque d'Autun, who is one
of our company and an intimate friend of Madame de Fla-
haut. He appears to be a sly, cunning, ambitious, and
malicious man. I know not why conclusions so disadvan
tageous to him are formed in my mind, but so it is, and I
cannot help it."

" At three o'clock [June loth] I set off for Versailles and
visit some of my friends — among them Mesdames d'An-
givilliers and Tesse. The former is as angry about the
presumption of the Tiers as the latter was at the intem
perance of the nobles ; both are equally right and wrong.
See here two sisters, who show by their gentle glances
that they like to have tender things said, at least. . I don't
know them. Call on Madame de Flahaut, but find her too
unwell to go abroad this evening. A good deal of chit
chat with her. She tells me that I suit the taste of this
country, etc., which is a vast compliment to a stranger — I
really apprehend much more than I deserve."

The expressions of regard and friendship made by the
Duchess of Orleans for Morris were not wholly fafon
de parler, and Thursday, June nth, was the day appoint
ed for him to visit her Royal Highness at Raincy, where
he arrived at eleven o'clock. "Nobody yet visible," he
says, "and after some time the Duchess appears and tells
me she has given Madame de Chastellux notice of my ar
rival. This consists with my primitive idea. Near 12
before the breakfast is paraded, but as I had eaten mine
before my departure this is no present inconvenience.
After breakfast we go to mass in the chapel. In the trib
une above we have a bishop, an abbe, the Duchess, her

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 99

maids, and some of their friends. Madame de Chastellux
is below on her knees. We are amused above by a num
ber of little tricks played off by M. de Segur and M. de
Cubieres* with a candle, which is put into the pockets
of different gentlemen, the Bishop among the rest, and
lighted while they are otherwise engaged (for there is a
fire in the tribune), to the great merriment of the spec
tators. Immoderate laughter is the consequence. The
Duchess preserves as much gravity as she can. This scene
must be very edifying to the domestics who are opposite
to us, and to the villagers who worship below. After this
ceremony is concluded we commence our walk, which is
long and excessively hot. Then we get in bateaux, and
the gentlemen row the ladies, which is by no means a cool
operation. After that more walking, so that I am exces
sively inflamed, even to fever-heat. Get to the Chateau
and doze for a little, en attendant le diner, which does not
come till after five. A number of persons surround the
windows, and doubtless form a high idea of the company,
to whom they are obliged to look up at an awful distance.
Ah, did they but know how trivial the conversation, how
very trivial the characters, their respect would soon be
changed to an emotion extremely different. Madame de
St. Simon is the subject of an epitaph by the Vicomte de
Segur, the purport of which is that she is lewd, and that
idea is tres fortement prononce. She attacks him in a se
rious discourse on the folly of his pursuits, which, having
only vanity for a motive, tend to inspire a passion where
none has hitherto been felt, and merely because of that.
He defends himself by observing that a thing of that sort
cannot affect his vanity, because the pursuit of a woman

*The Marquis Simon Louis Pierre de Cubieres was attached to the person
of the king as equerry and served him faithfully at the risk of his own life in
the Revolution.

100 DIARY AND LETTERS OF CHAP. IV.

is like a game of chess, when in consequence of a certain
set of moves the success is certain. She agrees in this
idea, and thence draws more certainly her conclusions
that such pursuits are ridiculous. I think I understand
this conversation in its full latitude, for my own observa
tion had already pointed at the object, not named but, if I
mistake not, clearly understood. After dinner the weath
er, which had been hot, becomes cold, and the fire is by no
means disagreeable. More walking, but I refuse to par
take of it, being fairly winged, to use the sportsman's
phrase. A little before 8 set off for town, having the com
pany of Madame de Chastellux's nurse and child. The
request to take them would have looked odd in America,
but I conclude that it is quite in the order of things here,
and readily comply, but indeed for a better reason. I am
glad in this kind of way to repay attentions which my
heart will not let me meet in any other."

"This morning [June i2th] Mr. Jefferson, just from Ver
sailles, tells me that the Tiers had called on the noblesse
and clergy to join them and proceed to business, which
has thrown the former into a rage. He considers the
affairs of this country as being in a very critical situation.
They are so, but the royal authority has great weight, and,
if brought in to the aid of the privileged orders, may yet
prevent their destruction. However, he and I differ in
our system of politics. He, with all the leaders of liberty
here, is desirous of annihilating distinctions of order.
How far such views may be right respecting mankind in
general is, I think, extremely problematical, but with re
spect to this nation I am sure it is wrong and cannot
eventuate well."

"To-day [June ipth], I call on Madame de la Suze.
She is embroidering with the tambour needle. Is quite
out of temper with the politics of the times, but is deter-

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. IOI

mined to be of the party which will furnish money, be
that which it may, because the husbands of herself and her
sisters 'ont beaucoup sur le Roi.' Voila les opinions poli-
tiques qui sont bien motivees. From thence go to the club,
and read the papers. The clergy have this day by a small
majority determined to join the Tiers. This stroke is fa
tal to the noblesse, for the Tiers having already consti
tuted themselves the National Assembly as representing
96 percent, of the nation, they will now have the claim to
be a majority of orders as well as heads. Unless the
royal authority be interposed to save the nobles, they are
gone, and of this there seems to be but slender probability.
From the club go to Madame d'Espanchall's (an invita
tion which I would gladly have evaded) to supper. I am
assailed for the copy of an extempore epitaph written at
Raincy on the Vicomte de Segur, which is wretchedly bad.
I evade the request till after supper, when I am again so
licited by Madame de Boursac to repeat it, and Madame
de Warsi, who is a very beautiful and accomplished woman,
entreats me to write it, because she understands English
only by the eye — having learnt to read, not to speak it.
Having her promise to return the scrap of paper, I write
for her the wretched lines in question, which had the sin
gle merit at the moment of having been written sur-le-
champ as a petite vengeance for Madame de St. Simon, on
whom he had written an epitaph at breakfast not too
delicate.

Here lies a merry, wicked wight,
Who spent in mischief all his life,
And, lest the world should do him right,
Determined not to take a wife.

The applause it met with arose from the pleasure man
kind always feel at seeing a tyrant galled. Madame de

102 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. IV.

Warsi begs leave to keep them, which I refuse. She says
she remembers them, and, to convince me, sets about writ
ing them from memory, and convinces both herself and
me that she cannot. I then take the pencil and write for
her:

To one like you, divinely fair,

On nothing but yourself I'll write,
Nor will I own another care,

Than what may give to you delight ;
If that delight I might convey,

At every gentle, kind caress,
I'd own the force of beauty's sway,

And you what blessing 'tis to bless.

M. de Boursac tells me (which is the aristocratic conso
lation) that the King has called a council on the present
state of affairs, in which each is to deliver his opinion in
His Majesty's presence. I do not believe that this will
produce any effect whatever : for the decision this day will
awe those who two days ago were loud against M. Necker,
and probably those who called, or prompted the call of
this council, will find the event to be in direct reverse of
their wishes and expectations."

It was on the iyth of June that the Commons, after a
long and ominously patient waiting for the other two or
ders to unite with them, decided " to begin the work of
national regeneration," and declared themselves the Na
tional Assembly of France. Three days after, when about
to assemble to begin their great work, Morris speaks in
the diary of the fact "that the different corps of the States-
General were prevented from meeting, the chamber being
surrounded with guards. The reason assigned," he con
tinues, "is that the King intends to have a Seance Royale
on Monday, and that some alterations are necessary to the
salon. After driving and walking a while, go to the club.

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. IO3

Meet the Comte de Croix, Due de la Rochefoucault,* Vi-
comte de Noailles,f Segur, young Dillon, and sundry
others. Various conjectures about the object of the Se
ance Royale to be held on Monday. I believe that this
step would not have been taken if the Court had foreseen
the step of the clergy yesterday. They have very inflam
mable materials to handle, and must take great heed.
The general idea seems to be that the seance is conse
quential upon what passed in the Tiers, when they as
sumed to themselves the title of National Assembly. But
I conjecture that, however this incident may have pre
cipitated that event, it originates in the idea of arranging
the different corps in such a way as that they may act, in
stead of being as at present an useless horde."

The schemes of the court and king were not furthered
by closing the doors of the great hall against these men —
determined upon a new order of things. Several of the
more courageous among them led the others to an old
tennis-court, where they solemnly swore the great oath,
called the Jeu de Paume, "not to separate until a consti
tution for France had been adopted."

"At the club this evening" [June 2ist], Morris says,
"it is said that the Seance Royale intended for to-morrow
is postponed. At 5 o'clock on the 2oth M. Necker wrote
a letter to the lieutenant of police, assuring that it is not
intended to prevent the further session of the States.
When there is apprehension on one side and determina
tion on the other, it is easy to see how things will eventu-

*Duc de la Rochefoucault, a patriot and active member of the States-
General in 1789. He favored the popular cause in the Revolution, but was
massacred at Gisors in 1792.

t Vicomte de Noailles was a deputy to the States-General in 1789, and pro
posed, on the 4th of August, the suppression of feudal rights and other privi
leges of the aristocracy. Soon after the commencement of the Reign of Terror
he emigrated to the United States. In 1804 he was killed in a naval engage
ment with the English. He married a sister of Madame de Lafayette.

IO4 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. IV.

ate. For my part, I presume that the Seance Royale is
postponed that they may come to a new determination
consequent on the resolution of the clerge."

When the news of the Jeu de Paume reached Paris,
the Palais Royal, says Arthur Young, " was in a flame ;
the coffee-houses, pamphlet shops, corridors, and gardens
were crowded — alarm and apprehension sat in every eye :
nothing was so glaringly ridiculous but the mob swallowed
it with indiscriminating faith. It was, moreover, curious
to remark among people of another description that the
balance of opinion was clearly that the National Assembly
had gone too far — had been too violent — and had taken
steps the mass of the people would not support."

" Before starting for Versailles to-day [June 23d] I sec
the Duchess of Orleans, who says she wrould ask me to dine
if I had not declared that I was going to Versailles.
When I arrive at Versailles I call upon Madame de Tesse,
who gives me a cordial reception, complaining, however, of
my politics. Lord and Lady Camelford, with their daughter,
come in. Mr. Jefferson tells me that on the strength of an
acquaintance with an acquaintance of Madame de Tesse's,
without being themselves known to her, they had sent and
asked a dinner. This is quite as free and easy as the French
themselves can be. The King has to-day, in his Seance
Royale pleased the nobility and very much displeased the
Tiers. I find it difficult to learn exactly what has passed,
but it seems to rne the nobility have less cause for exulta
tion than they imagine. At dinner I sit next to M. de
Lafayette, who tells me I injure the cause, for that my sen
timents are continually quoted against the good party. I
seize this opportunity to tell him that I am opposed to the
democracy from regard to liberty ; that I see they are
going headlong to destruction, and would fain stop them
if I could ; that their views respecting this nation are

1789] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. IO5

totally inconsistent with the materials of which it is com
posed, and that the worst thing that could happen would
be to grant their wishes. He tells me that he is sensible
his party are mad, and tells them so, but is not the less de
termined to die with them. I tell him I think it would be
just as well to bring them to their senses and live with
them. He says he is determined to resign his seat, which
step I approve of, because the instructions by which he is
bound are contrary to his conscience. Before we part I
take an opportunity to tell him that if the Tiers are now
very moderate they will probably succeed, but if violent
must inevitably fail. From Madame de Tesse I go to see
Madame Montvoisseux, where the party is aristocratical —
delighted with the King. In the course of conversation
they tell me some anecdotes which convince me that the
King and Queen are confoundedly frightened, and I am
thence led to conjecture that the Court will still recede.
M. Necker yesterday offered to resign, but the King re
fused to accept his resignation. This afternoon he waits
on His Majesty, surrounded by the common people, who
attend him with shouts of applause — to the door of the
chateau. At half-past seven, when I leave Versailles, he
is still with the King."

During the last days of June, the mob, composed of
idlers, strangers, the leaders of the coffee-houses of the
Palais Royal, and disorderly persons of all kinds, swarmed
into Versailles. Daily those whom they called aristocrats
were grossly insulted. The Archbishop of Paris was hoot
ed through the streets. The king's secretary and the
Keeper of the Seals were insulted until they were in fear
of their lives, and the secretary died in consequence of the
excitement.

In the hall where the Assembly sat, nominally with
closed doors, Bailey says there were always more than

c/

106 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. IV.

six hundred spectators — noisy, active, and disrespectful,
often taking part in the deliberations by applause and
hisses. When the result of the Seance Royale was known
in Paris, Arthur Young says, " the ferment is beyond de
scription ; 10,000 people have been all this day in the Palais
Royal. It is plain to me, from many conversations I have
been witness to, and the constant meetings, united with the
inflammatory publications that hourly appear, that nothing
the King or Court could do would now satisfy the people."

By Thursday, the 25th, a majority of the clergy and a
minority of the noblesse had joined the Tiers. " Going to
Versailles to visit the Due de Vauguyon, on a matter of
business," Morris writes, "I hear that the minority of
the clergy have constituted themselves into a body, and
agreed to the King's propositions. The majority of the
noblesse, who of course continue to be the body, have
(it is said) determined also to accept the same proposi
tions, but with some modifications. The National Assem
bly, or whatever else they may now choose to call them
selves, have agreed on a deputation to the King. The
question is whether His Majesty will receive it, because
thereon depends the ultimate state of the noblesse."

The opposition of the nobles was fruitless. The flood,
sweeping everything before it, brought them nearer and
nearer to the ranks of the National Assembly, and on
Saturday, June 27th, they took their place among them.
Morris says : " The nobles have this day, agreeably to a re
quest of the King's, joined the other two orders. So that
at length the great question is determined, and the votes
will be par tete. It remains only for them to form a con
stitution, and as the King is extremely timid, he will of
course surrender at discretion. The existence of the mon
archy therefore depends on the moderation of the Assem
bly. For the rest, I think they will soon establish their

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. IO/

credit, which, among other things, will bring the exchange
between France and foreign nations to be more favorable.
If the money of this country is brought into free circula
tion, I think it will lower interest everywhere. The sum
is immense, and its effects must be commensurate to its
activity and mass. At present it lies dead and is poorly
supplied by the paper Caisse d'Escompte."

Since the 23d of June there had been rioting and insub
ordination in the ranks of the French guards. They de
clared their intention not to act against the National As
sembly. Eleven of the leaders had been confined in the
Abbaye, and on the 3oth of June these men sent a letter to
their comrades, asking assistance. The mob in the Palais
Royal, on hearing this letter read aloud, took fire at
once and started for the prison. " I go," says Morris, "to
the Palais Royal to see what is doing, and from thence
to the club. Find that the mob have broken the prison
and released some soldiers, who were confined for their late
breaches of military discipline, consequent on their in
ebriation by those who are debauching them from their
duty. This makes, as it ought to do, a serious impression.
Probably to-morrow will produce similar and greater ex
cesses. Mr. Jefferson tells me, from the large camp which
is forming under the Marechal de Broglie, and from the air
of many who are unfriendly to the present measures of
the Tiers, and from the influence of the Comte d'Artois in
the Council, very serious events are apprehended, that
perhaps the King will be prompted to attempt a resump
tion of his authority. All this is very well, but, under the
existing ideas of the moment, it is very doubtful whether
he could prevail on his soldiery to act, and if not, his ful-
minations will become as contemptible as those of the
Church, for in both cases it is the secular arm of flesh
which alone renders the anathema terrible."

108 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. IV.

The following letter, written [July ist] to the Hon.
Mr. Jay, gives a comprehensive view of the situation in
Paris. Morris says : " I am too much occupied to find time
for the use of a cypher — and in effect this government is
so occupied with its own affairs, that in transmitting to
you a letter under an envelope there is no risk. This,
however, I am pretty certain will go safe. The States-
General have now been a long time in session and have
done nothing. Hitherto they have been engaged in a dis
pute whether they shall form one body or three. The
commons, who are represented by a body equal to both
the others, and who besides have at least one half the
representatives of the clergy, insist on forming a single
house. They have succeeded, but the nobles deeply feel
their situation. The King, after siding with them, was
frightened into an abandonment of them. He acts from
terror only. The soldiery in this city, particularly the
French guards, declare they will not act against the peo
ple. They are now treated by the nobility, and parade
about the streets drunk, huzzaing for the Tiers. Some of
them have, in consequence, been confined — not by the
force, but by the adroitness of authority. Last night this
circumstance became known, and immediately a mob re
paired to the prison. The soldiers on guard unfixed their
bayonets and joined the assailants. A party of dragoons
ordered on duty to disperse the riot thought it better to
drink with the rioters and return back to their quarters.
The soldiers, with others confined in the same prison, were
then paraded in triumph to the Palais Royal, which is
now the liberty pole of this city, and there they celebrated
as usual their joy. Probably this evening some other
prisons will be opened, for Liberte is now the general
cry, and Autorite is a name, not a real existence. The
Court are about to form a camp in the neighborhood of

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 109

Paris of 25,000 men, under the command of the Marechal
de Broglie. I do not know him personally, therefore
cannot judge what may be expected from his talents, but
all my information goes to the point that he will never
bring his army to act against the people. The Garde clu
Corps are as warm adherents (in general) to the Tiers as
anybody else, strange as that may seem, so that in effect
the sword has slipped out of the monarch's hands without
his perceiving a tittle of the matter. All these things, in a
nation not yet fitted by education and habit for the enjoy
ment of freedom, give me frequently suspicions that they
will greatly overshoot their mark, if indeed they have not
already done it. Already some people talk of limiting the
King's negative upon the laws ; and as they have hitherto
felt severely the authority exercised in the name of their
Princes, every limitation of that authority seems to them
desirable. Never having felt the evils of too weak an ex
ecutive, the disorders to be apprehended from anarchy
make as yet no impression. The provincial assemblies or
administrations — in other words, the popular executive of the
provinces — which Turgot had imagined as a means of mod
erating the royal legislative of the Court, is now insisted
on as a counter- security against the monarch, when they
shall have established a democratical legislative, for you
will observe that the noble and clerical orders are hence
forth to be vox et p renter ea nihil. The King is to be limited
to the exact sum necessary for his personal expenses.
The management of the public debt and revenue to pro
vide for it will be taken entirely out of his hands, and the
subsistence of the army is to depend on temporary grants.
Hence it must follow that his negative, in whatever form
reserved, will be of little avail. These are the outlines of
the proposed constitution, by which, at the same time, let-
tres de cachet are to be abrogated and the liberty of the press

IIO DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. IV.

established. My private opinion is that the King, to get
fairly out of the scrape in which he finds himself, would
subscribe to anything, and truly from him little is to be ex
pected in any way. The Queen, hated, humbled, morti
fied, feels and feigns, and intrigues to save some shattered
remnants of the royal authority ; but to know that she
favors a measure is the certain means to frustrate its suc
cess. The Comte d'Artois, alike hated, is equally busy,
but has neither sense to counsel himself nor choose coun
sellors for himself — much less to counsel others. The
nobles look up to him for support, and lean on what they
know to be a broken reed, for want of some more solid de
pendence. In their anguish they curse Necker, who is in
fact less the cause than the instrument of their sufferings.
His popularity depends now more on the opposition he
meets with from one party than any serious regard of the
other. It is the attempt to throw him down which saves
him from falling. He has no longer the preponderating
weight in counsel which a fortnight ago decided every
thing. If they were not afraid of consequences he would
be dismissed, and on the same principle the King has re
fused to accept his resignation. If his abilities were equal
to his genius, and he were as much supported by firmness
as he is swayed by ambition, he would have had the ex
alted honor of giving a free constitution to above twenty
millions of his fellow-creatures, and could have reigned
long in their hearts and received the unanimous applause
of posterity. But as it is, he must soon fall — whether his
exit be physical or moral must depend on events which I
cannot foresee. The best chance which royalty has is that
popular excesses may alarm. At the rate at which things
are now going, the King of France must soon be one of
the most limited monarchs in Europe."

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. Ill

CHAPTER V.

Grain under convoy. Tumult in Paris. Fourth of July dinner. Visit to
Romainville. Bread scarce. Paris gay. The administration routed
and Necker banished. M. de Narbonne. Mobs in the streets. Ar
morers' shops broken open. Scenes in the Palais Royal Gardens. Ter
rible night in Paris. The Hotel de Force broken into. Morris dons
the green bow. No carriages allowed in the streets. Affairs at Ver
sailles. A cry for arms. Carriages stopped and searched. The Bas
tille taken. Madame de Flahaut's salon. M. de Launay. Carnival
at Versailles. The Bastille in ruins. The King comes to Paris and
dons the red and blue cockade. The procession.

IN the beginning of July of this eventful year wheat
was scarcer than ever. Some towns had none at all,
and such grain as could be bought was musty. But even
this bad bread was the object of envy to starving creat
ures, who robbed the fortunate possessors of it on the
high-roads. " The grain supply of Paris must be guarded,"
Morris says, " or it would be robbed and exhausted before
reaching the town. While I was out this day I met a con
voy of grain coming into town under the guard of a party
of troops. For several weeks, all of the grain and stores
brought to this town has been escorted in like manner.
I hear of an intended attack on the Hotel de Force."

The evening of July 3d Morris spent with M. Le
Coulteux, discussing the offer of the farm to take a cer
tain amount of the tobacco about which there was so much
trouble. " Cantaleu, who is there, is full of politics,"
he says, " and tells me I am frequently quoted by the aristo
crats as being of their party. This leads to an explanation
of my opinions, in which we perfectly agree, and he ap-

112 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. V.

pears glad of it. The conciliatory point is an abolition
of the parlements, which I think necessary to the estab
lishment of freedom, justice, and order."

Surrounded by tumult and disorder on his own nation
al holiday, Morris endeavored to find some consolation
in reminding himself of the blessings of peace, and in a
letter to a friend he spoke of the day as '" demanding our
filial acknowledgments — a day now at length auspicious,
since by the establishment of our new Constitution we
have the fair prospect of enjoying those good things for
which we have had so hard a contest." Mr. Jefferson
celebrated the day by giving a dinner to the many Amer
icans in Paris, among whom were " M. and Madame
de Lafayette. We have," Morris says, "some political
conversation with him after dinner, in which I urge him
to preserve, if possible, some constitutional authority to
the body of nobles, as the only means of preserving any
liberty for the people. The current is setting so strong
against the noblesse that I apprehend their destruction,
in which will, I fear, be involved consequences most per
nicious, though little attended to in the present moment."

It was a continuously cold and uncomfortable season
which Morris encountered this year in France. " Un
til this month," he wrote in July to Mr. Carmichael, " fire
has been a companion not only agreeable but even neces
sary. So much for that charming vernal season of Europe
which I have often heard celebrated by many of our coun
trymen, whose principal merit lies in having twice crossed
the Atlantic. . . . You ask me if Mr. Jefferson is gone
to America. He is not, but is ready to depart at a moment's
warning, having staid some time expecting his conge, but is
still in the same expectation. I conclude that it will not be
expedited until the arrangement of the ministerial depart
ments shall have been completed. Probably the Secretary

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 113

of Foreign Affairs will decline acting until appointed under
the new government. It is probable also that the ques
tion of the conge will not be agitated till another question
is determined, viz., who shall act here in the interim ;
and also I doubt not but the secretary, Mr. Short, will be
empowered. You suppose that the minister has intro
duced me to the Corps Diplomatique. I hinted that mat
ter to him shortly after my arrival. He told me they were
not worth my acquaintance. I have a set which I have
made myself, and these are not, you will easily conceive,
among the worst company of Paris. As to the ministerial
dinners, I have not been at them. It has never been pro
posed to me. The ministers, you know, give no invita
tions themselves, and we are bashful. By the bye, I some
time since went and asked a dinner of the Comte de
Montmorin, who very kindly assured me at parting that I
must in his house consider myself perfectly at home, and
this you know from him is not an unmeaning compli
ment. I am tout bete that I have not since profited by
these kind assurances. But what can I do ? Versailles is
the most triste sejour on earth, and though I am tempted
by the strong passion of curiosity to go thither and attend
the debates of the Etats-Generaux, I have not yet pre
vailed on myself to do it. I believe no man ever made
less use of strong recommendations to ministerial peo
ple. Probably I am wrong, but I cannot help it. Apro
pos, do you know Lafayette ? Should you reply by ask
ing me, Whence so strange a question ? I answer, in the
words of the great Montesquieu, ' My object is not to make
men read but to make them think.' There are great in
trigues against the administration here, but hitherto with
out any effect. I have steadily combated the violence and
excess of those persons who, either inspired with an en
thusiastic love of freedom, or prompted by sinister designs,
8

114 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. V.

are disposed to drive everything to extremity. Our
American example has done them good, but, like all nov
elties, Liberty runs away with their discretion, if they have
any. They want an American constitution, with the ex
ception of a king instead of a president, without reflect
ing that they have not American citizens to support that
constitution. Mankind see distant things in a false point
of light, and judge either more or less favorably than they
ought — this is an old observation ; another as old, perhaps,
but which all are not in the position to feel, is, that we try
everything by the standard of preconceived notions, so that
there is an impossibility almost of knowing by description
a distant people or country. Whoever, therefore, desires
to apply in the practical science of government those rules
and forms which prevail and succeed in a foreign coun
try, must fall into the same pedantry with our young
scholars just fresh from an university, who would fain
bring everything to a Roman standard. Different consti
tutions of government are necessary to the different so
cieties on the face of this planet. Their difference of po
sition is in itself a powerful cause — their manners, their
habits. The scientific tailor, who should cut after Gre
cian or Chinese models, would not have many customers
either in London or Paris ; and those who look to Amer
ica for their political forms are not unlike the tailors in
the Island of Laputa, who, as Gulliver tells us, always
take measure with a quadrant. He tells us, indeed, what
one would naturally expect from such a process, that the
people are seldom fitted. The King, who long since de
clared for the people, has since been wavering. He is an
honest man, and wishes really to do good, but he has not
either genius or education to show the way towards that
good which he desires. In the contest between the repre
sentatives of the people and of the nobles, he has by those

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 115

about him been induced to give support to the latter ; but
he came forward too late, and not in the proper manner.
The result is that he has retreated, and the nobles have been
obliged to give way. . . . The noblesse, who at this day
possess neither the force, the wealth, nor the talents of the
nation, have rather opposed pride than argument to their
assailants. Hugging the dear privileges of centuries long
elapsed, they have clamored about the Court, while their
adversaries have possessed themselves fully of the public
confidence everywhere. Knowing and feeling the force of
that situation, they have advanced with a boldness which,
to those unacquainted with all the facts, has looked like
temerity. But this hardihood has imposed — those who are
at the head of the opposition to them are not possessed of
talents or of virtue. The chief has not even courage,
without which you know that in revolutions there is noth
ing.

"The French troops, as far as can be ascertained, would
not serve against their countrymen, and the foreign troops
are not sufficiently numerous to make any serious impres
sion. The people of this city are going (by that invincible
instinct which produces in every animal the conduct pe
culiar to his situation) in the same road which marked
the aurora of American opposition. Three months ago the
sight of a soldier excited awe — now they speak of attacking
whole regiments, and in effect there are not infrequently
some scuffles with the foreign troops. Thus opinion,
which is everything, becomes daily fortified. While I
write I consider the sovereignty of this country as being
effectually lodged in the hands of the Assemblee Nationale,
for you will observe that this name is assumed instead
of Etats-Generaux, which is tantamount to an American
legislature resolving itself into a convention. They mean
immediately to form a constitution, and I have no doubt

Il6 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. V.

but that they will obtain the King's consent. The parti
sans of the ancient establishments have contrived to have
a very large body of troops assembled in this neighbor
hood, but, if I conjecture rightly, those troops will soon be
dispersed. The National Assembly have already marked
their disapprobation, but the matter will not stop here,
and sooner or later the King must send them away. In
deed, I am induced to believe that this measure will cause
the kingdom to be cleared of foreign troops, for, not be
ing able to rely on the French regiments, they have se
lected principally the foreigners. The probable object of
those who are at the bottom of the business is to surprise
some order from His Majesty's fears, which are now con
tinually excited, so that he is constantly the sport of ap
prehensions. But they have a more difficult and danger
ous business than they are at all aware of. The Assembly
have determined that all taxes shall cease, when they
separate, except such as they continue to impose. This
provides for as long a term of existence as they may choose
to take, and if dispersed, France will certainly refuse to
pay. An army will never break a general combination to
that effect ; so that either sooner or later they must submit,
and every show of authority now will weaken it without
producing any other effect. Such, then, is the state of this
country, in which I think the crisis is past, without having
been perceived, and now a free constitution will be the
certain result. If they have the good sense to give the
nobles as such some share in the national authority, that
constitution will probably endure ; but otherwise it will
degenerate into a pure monarchy, or become a vast re
public. A democracy — can that last ? I think not — I am
sure not, unless the whole people are changed. In any
event, however, of the business it bids fair to change the
political face of Europe. But whither am I going?"

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 1 1/

"Walk to-day [July 8th] in the Champs iClysees, where I
meet Mr. Appleton and Mr. Jefferson, who tell me the
news of Versailles. There will be on Saturday night
25,000 men in and about Paris. Some talk of a Seance
Royale on Monday, but this not founded. Go to M. Le
Coulteux's. They have sad news : that the Etats-Generaux
are to be dissolved, a bankruptcy declared, and the pay
of the troops decreased, etc. While at dinner De Norraye
comes in from Versailles and assures the company, from
the mouth of M. de Montmorin, that there is to be no
Seance Royale on Monday."

The next day (July pth) Morris was in the hands of the
doctor, "who says I must stay eight days longer in Paris.
He is certain I shall soon be very well. I should more
readily adopt this opinion if I were anywhere else than in
so large and foul-smelling a city as Paris. As soon as I
can get my business done I am off directly for London.
Visit Mr. Jefferson, who shows me his letter to M. de
Lafayette on the subject of M. Mirabeau's misinformation
to the States-General. To my surprise, it contains nothing
like what M. de la Norraye yesterday at dinner told the
company it did contain, having had it at M. de Mont-
morin's. An excellent lesson this, to be cautious of be
lieving." A note this morning from Madame de Flahaut
summoned Morris to her apartment during the impor
tant and mysterious ceremony of the toilet. Here usu
ally in attendance was the abbe, without whom the
hour of the toilet was not complete, who told the latest
scandal and read the latest brochures. At this hour, po
etically called la jeunesse de la journe'e, the arrangements
of the day were made — the affiche of the theatre was ex
amined, graceful scented notes of tenderness were received
and sent, gowns to be inspected and flowers to be sold,
temptations in the way of laces and articles de luxe — all

Il8 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. V.

found their way into my lady's boudoir during the hour of
the toilet. And her caprices and fascinations charmed
the particular favorite who was admitted to the intimacy
of this informal morning hour. There were several visit
ors with Madame de Flahaut on this occasion, and, a pleas
ant chat ended, Morris drove to Romainville to bid adieu
to the Marechal de Castries and his daughter-in-law.
" Madame Lebrun is there, the famous painter, who is as

pleasant a companion as she is artist ; Madame de

the friend of the Vicomte. We walk about the garden.
The Marechal very kindly asks me to stay at his country-
house for the re-establishment of my health. Approach
ing the house we find Mesdames de Segur and Chastellux,
and are presently joined by M. de Puisignieu. He assures
me that the scarcity of corn is excessive, which he is the
better able to judge of as his regiment of Chasseurs are
employed in the escort of provisions and protection of
grain now standing. Take a walk with Madame de Segur
and converse on the situation of their public affairs, which
she understands as well as anybody. Take leave, with
promises to return speedily. Promise also to write to her.
Return to town. This day has been hot. I observe that
the potatoes which I see growing are what we consider
the worst kind, at least if one may judge from their tops.
I go to the club when I return to town and hear that the
King, in answer to the address of the Etats respecting the
troops, has told them that he had no intentions that will
affect them, and if their apprehensions continue he will re
move the session of the States to Soissons or Noyon and
go himself to Compiegne. This is an artful reply. If he
can get them far from Paris he will weaken that impulse
which at present creates such alarm. But the evil lies
deeper than his' counsellors are aware of, and the business
now broached must have its complete course. While at

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 119

the club receive a message from Madame de Flahaut, who
begs I will come to supper to tell her the news. Go. A
partie carrte, when I arrive and make the fifth. Stay late,
and reconduct an abbe, one of her favorites. He is hunch-
. backed, and far from an Adonis in other respects ; it must
therefore be a moral attachment. This day has been hot,
but the evening is pleasant and I feel no small pleasure
to smell the ripening grain. There are now, in and about
this city, above a million of human creatures whose only
resource for bread is in the vigilance and attention of
government, whose utmost exertions, however, can but just
keep pace with the necessity."

Daily this great necessity grew more terrible — the great
army of the unemployed increased and clamored for bread.
Rumor announced the approach of a large army from
Versailles to the capital, and that the Baron de Breteuil
had said, " If it is necessary to burn Paris, burn Paris."
Gayety meanwhile reigned at Paris. Fetes and dinners
enlivened the frequenters of the Palais Royal Gardens, and
a ball in the Champs Elysees kept up the spirits of the
fishwomen and the dwellers in the Faubourg Saint Antoine.
Everything and everybody in Paris seemed ready for civil
war. In the council-room Necker and his friends saw the
king sleep his false sleep, which was a ruse of His Majesty
to cover his embarrassment, and they shrewdly suspected
what it meant. July i2th, Morris dined with the Mare-
chal de Castries. " As I am going away he takes me aside
to inform me that M. Necker is no longer in place. He
is much affected at this intelligence, and, indeed, so am I.
Urge him to go immediately to Versailles. He says he
will not, that they have undoubtedly taken all their meas
ures before this moment, and therefore he must be too
late. I tell him he is not too late to warn the King of his
danger, which is infinitely greater than he imagines ; that

I2O DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. V.

his army will not fight against the nation, and that if he
listens to violent councils the nation will undoubtedly be
against him ; that the sword has fallen imperceptibly from
his hands, and that the sovereignty of the nation is in
the Assemblee Nationale. He makes no precise answer
to this, but is very deeply affected. Call, agreeable to my
promise, on Madame de Flahaut ; learn that the whole ad
ministration is routed out and Necker banished. Much
alarm here. Paris begins to be in commotion, and from
the invalid guard of the Louvre a few of the nobility
take a drum and beat to arms. M. de Narbonne, the friend
of Madame de Stae'l, considers a civil war as inevitable,
and is about to join his regiment, being, as he says, in a
conflict between the dictates of his duty and of his con
science. I tell him that I know of no duty but that which
conscience dictates. I presume his conscience will dic
tate to join the strongest side. The little Abbe Bertrand,
after sallying out in a fiacre, returns frightened because
of a large mob in the Rue St. Honore, and presently comes
in another abbe, who is of the parliament, and who, rejoic
ing at the change, is confoundedly frightened at the com
motions. I calm the fears of Madame de Flahaut, whose
husband is mad, and in a printed list, it seems, of the furi
ous aristocrats. Offer to conduct the abbe safely home,
which offer Bertrand accepts of. His terror as we go along is
truly diverting. As we approach the Rue St. Honore, his
imagination magnifies the ordinary passengers into a vast
mob, and I can scarcely persuade him to trust his eyes in
stead of his fears. Having set him down, I depart for Mr.
Jefferson's. In riding along the boulevards, all at once
the carriages and horses and foot passengers turn about
and pass rapidly. Presently after we meet a body of
cavalry, with their sabres drawn and coming half speed.
After they have passed up a little way they stop. When

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 121

we come to the Place Louis Quinze, observe the people, to
the number of perhaps an hundred, picking up stones, and
on looking back find that the cavalry are returning. Stop
at the angle to see the fray, if any. The people take post
among the stones which lie scattered about the whole
place, being then hewn for the bridge now building. The
officer at the head of the party is saluted by a stone, and
immediately turns his horse in a menacing manner to
ward the assailant. But his adversaries are posted in ground
where the cavalry cannot act. He pursues his route, and
the pace is soon increased to a gallop, amid a shower of
stones. One of the soldiers is either knocked from his
horse or the horse falls under him. He is taken prisoner,
and at first ill-treated. They fired several pistols, but
without effect ; probably they were not even charged with
ball. A party of the Swiss Guards are posted in the
Champs Elysees with cannon. Proceed to Mr. Jefferson's.
He tells me that M. Necker received yesterday about
noon a letter from the King, by the hands of M. de la
Luzerne, in which he orders him to leave the kingdom ;
and at the same time M. de la Luzerne is desired to exact
a promise that he will not mention the matter to anybody.
M. Necker dines, and proposes to Madame Necker a visit
to a female friend in the neighborhood. On the route he
communicates the intelligence, and they go to a country-
seat, make the needful arrangements, and depart. M. de
Montmorin immediately resigned, and is now in Paris.
In returning from Mr. Jefferson's I am turned off to the
left by the vedette posted on the road to the Place Louis
Quinze. Go to the club. A gentleman just from Versailles
gives us an account of the new administration. The peo
ple are employed breaking open the armorers' shops, and
presently a large body of the Gardes Francaises appear,
with bayonets fixed, in the garden, mingled with the mob,

122 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. V.

some of whom are also armed. These poor fellows have
passed the Rubicon with a witness. 'Success or a halter'
must now be their motto. I think the Court will again re
cede, and if they do, all further efforts will be idle; if they
do not, a civil war is among the events most probable. If
the representatives of the Tiers have formed a just estimate
of their constituents, in ten days all France will be in a
commotion. The little affray which I have witnessed will
probably be magnified into a bloody battle before it reaches
the frontiers, and in that case an infinity of corps bourgeois
will march to the relief of the capital. They had better
gather in the harvest."

In the beautiful garden of the Palais Royal, among the
flowers and fountains, the news-venders and the gamblers —
in this place, which had been described by the anti-revolu
tionists as the image of the Chimera, with the head of a
beautiful prostitute, the tongue of a serpent, the hands
of a harpy, with eyes throwing forth flames and a mouth
distilling poisonous and patriotic words — all of revolu
tionary Paris had assembled this Sunday, the i2th of July.
The news of Necker's dismissal came, and was greeted
with a cry of rage. Camille Desmoulins, mounted on a
table, cried, "Aux armes ! " and announced that the Court
meditated a " St. Bartholomew of patriots." Women dis
tributed green cockades, the favorite color of the hour, and
at midnight the big bells of Notre Dame and of the Hotel
de Ville rang out their alarm. That night, in Paris, none
but children slept. At Versailles the day passed in anx
iety ; communication with Paris was cut off, and when
the Assembly began its sitting, the morning of the i3th,
Versailles was still in ignorance of events at Paris. But
they knew that the old ministry had been ordered to quit
the Court, and that in the new one they had small confi
dence.

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 123

The next morning Morris hears from Martin, his ser
vant, that the Hotel de Force is broken into, and all the
prisoners liberated. " Presently after," he continues, " a
letter is brought in enclosing one for me from Mr. Nes-
bitt, who is at the Temple and wishes to see me ; but my
cocker tells me he cannot bring my carriage, having al
ready been stopped and turned back. In effect, the little
city of Paris is in as great a tumult as any could wish.
They are getting arms wherever they can find any ; seize
600 barrels of powder in a boat on the Seine ; break into
the Monastery of St. Lazare, and find a store of grain which
the holy brotherhood has laid in. Immediately it is put
into carts and sent to the market, and in every cart a
friar. The Garde-Meuble du Roi is attacked, and the arms
are delivered up to prevent worse consequences. These,
however, are more curious than useful. But the detail of
the variety of this day's deeds would be endless. I dine at
home, and after dinner go to the Louvre, having previ
ously ornamented my hat with a green bow in honor of
the Tiers, for this is the fashion of the day, which every
body is obliged to comply with who means to march in
peace. It is somewhat whimsical that this day of violence
and tumult is the only one in which I have dared to walk
the streets, but as no carriages are abroad but the fiacres,
I do not hazard being crushed, and apprehend nothing
from the populace. Madame de Flahaut is under a great
apprehension, which I endeavor to appease. Capellis
comes in, and when we are about to set off for the Palais
Royal, we meet on the stairs monsieur, from Versailles, who
tells us the news. Go to club. Sit a while chatting on
the state of public affairs. M. de Moreton tells me that
the present ministers are a set of rascals and tyrants,
that he knows them perfectly well, and one of them, it
seems, is his relation, for whom he exhibits no partiality.

124 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. V.

After a while Monsieur de arrives from Versailles,

and tells us that the fashion at Court is to believe that the
disturbances at Paris are very trifling. The National As
sembly have advised the King to recall the former minis
try, and to permit the Assembly to send a deputation to
Paris to recommend the forming des corps bourgeois for
the maintenance of order in the city. To the first, he
replied that the executive power is his, and he will ap
point whom he pleases to be his ministers ; and he disap
proves the second measure. In consequence of this, the As
sembly make some sharp resolutions, whose purport seems
to be the devoting to public infamy the present admin
istration, and declaring His Majesty's advisers to be guilty
of high treason. Thus the Court and popular party are
pitted against each other. In ten days I think it will be
decided whether the retreat of the monarch will be imme
diate and only ruin his counsellors, or whether it will be
remote and his own ruin involved in that of his ministers.
Some horses are brought into the Palais Royal. We go
to see what they are, but cannot learn. We are told,
however, by one of the orators that they have received a
deputation from the two regiments quartered at St. Denis,
offering to join the Tiers if they will come out and receive
them ! My companions urge them by all means to go.
But this manoeuvre must at least be deferred till to-mor
row. The leaders here, I think, err in not bringing about
immediately some pretty severe action between the for
eign and national troops. The consequences would, in
my opinion, be decisive."

"Arms and bread!" is the cry on Tuesday, the i4th.
The wine and bread shops have been pillaged ; now arms
are wanted. The mob rushed to the Hotel de Ville, hear
ing from an elector, the Abbe d'Ormesson, that arms
were stored there ; then to the Hopital des Invalides, and

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 125

forced the garrison to give up arms. Then came the cry,
"We want the Bastille." Nearly 80,000 men, with scarce
ly the semblance of a leader, had been got together. A
horde of these men, armed and desperate, filled the avenues
leading to this fortress, prison, and tomb. Morris men
tions being stopped twice while driving, " to see if there
be any arms in my carriage. While I am visiting M. Le
Coulteux a person comes to announce the taking of the
Bastille, the Governor of which is beheaded, and the Pre-
vot des Marchands is killed and also beheaded. They
are carrying the heads in triumph through the city. The
carrying of this citadel is among the most extraordinary
things I have met with. It cost the assailants 60 men, it
is said. The Hotel Royal des Invalides was forced this
morning, and the cannon and small arms, etc., brought off.
The citizens are by these means well armed, at least here
are the materials for about 30,000 to be equipped with,
and that is a sufficient army. I find that the information
received last night as to the arrfae of the Assemblee
Nationale is not correct. They have only declared that
the last administration carry with them the regret of
the chambers that they will persist in insisting on the
removal of the troops, and that His Majesty's advisers,
whatever their rank and station, are guilty of all the con
sequences which may ensue. Yesterday it was the fashion
at Versailles not to believe that there were any disturb
ances at Paris. I presume that this day's transactions will
induce a conviction that all is not perfectly quiet. From
M. Le Coulteux's go to visit Madame de Flahaut, who is in
much anxiety. Her husband, she tells me, is foolhardy,
and she apprehends much for his safety. I am present at
a family scene in which she plays her part extremely
well, and appeals to me for my opinion on one of the
points. I answer that in discussions of such a delicate

126 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. V.

nature it is a rule with me not to interfere. The question
is whether he should leave the city. I advise him, if he
does, to go at noonday, etc. While he is sitting with us,
madame having on her lap an ecritoire, by way of exciting
his curiosity I scribble some wretched lines, which he asks
me to translate for him. Nothing is easier ; but, unluck
ily, one of the ideas is not calculated to please. It was
thus :

In fever* on your lap I write,

Expect, then, but a feeble lay ;
And yet, in every proverb's spite,

Tho' 'tis in verse, believe, I pray.

No lover I ; alas ! too old

To raise in you a mutual flame.
Then take a passion rather cold,

And call it by fair friendship's name."

She tells me that he looked rather foolish at the declara
tion of being too old to excite a passion. I assure her my
object was only to excite curiosity. She observes that I
succeeded in my wishes, but that it was ridiculous in mon
sieur to ask an explanation, because I could have given
him the same translation if the lines had been entirely
different."

During the hours of fright, tumult, and horror in Paris,
when the body of De Launay, after being kicked and
dragged through the gutter and his head carried on a pike
through the streets in triumph, was left lying, with many
other victims, in the Place de Greve, the Comte d'Artois
at Versailles held high carnival in the orangery and,
with dances, songs, feasting, and wine in abundance, en
tertained the foreign soldiery. The morning of the i5th,

* Morris had been ill with a chill and fever.

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS.

Morris says, "La Caze comes from Le Normand to tell
me that it is impossible to do business this day, which,
I fear, is true enough. He also tells me the King is com
ing to town this day [July 15 th], which J do not believe a
word of. Dress and wait long for my carriage. Receive
a message from Madame de Flahaut. Walk to the Louvre,
and order my carriage to follow ; later I go to Mr. Jeffer
son's, and am stopped near the Pont Royal and obliged
to turn into the Rue St. Honore. Stopped again at the
Church St. Roch, and a number of foolish questions asked.
Colonel Gardner comes to me ; is very happy to be in
Paris at the present moment. So am I. Considers, as I
do, the capture of the Bastille an instance of great intre
pidity. A few paces from the church I am again stopped,
and a vast deal of self-sufficiency in the officer brings
on an altercation with my coachman. As everything is
turned into this street and interruptions of the kind I ex
perience are so frequent, the embarras is very great. I
therefore turn back, and come to the Hotel to dine.
While I am at dinner La Caze comes in. Fie contradicts
his news of this morning, but says a deputy is just arrived
from the States-General who brings an account that the
King has retreated, etc. This I expected. We shall see.
Go, according to promise, to Madame de Flahaut's, with
her nephew and the Abbe Bertrand ; we proceed along
the quay to the Tuileries, walk a little, and sit some time.
She wants to see the deputies of the Assemblee Nationale
come to town, owns that it is foolish, but says that all
women have the same folly. There is much rejouissance
in town. After placing madame at home, her nephew
and I go to the club. I send away my carriage, and pres
ently after receive a message from her desiring the loan
of it. Send the servant after the coachman, but it is too
late. His horses are put up, and he is patrolling as one of

128 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. V.

the garde bourgeoise. The Due d'Aguillon* and Baron de
Menouf are at the club, both of them deputies of the no
blesse. I learn through and from them the secret history
of the revolution of this day. Yesterday evening an ad
dress was presented to the Assembly, to which His Maj
esty returned an answer by no means satisfactory. The
Queen, Comte d'Artois, and Duchesse de Polignac had been
all day tampering with two regiments, who were made al
most drunk, and every officer was presented to the King,
who was induced to give promises, money, etc., to these
regiments. They shouted 'Vive la Reine, 'Vive le Comte
d'Artois,' 'Vive la Duchesse de Polignac,' and their music
came and played under Her Majesty's windows. In the
meantime, Marechal de Broglie was tampering in person
with the artillery. The plan was to reduce Paris to famine,
and to take two hundred members of the National Assem
bly prisoners. But they found that the troops would not
serve against their country. Of course these plans could
not be carried into effect. They took care, however, not
to inform the King of all the mischiefs. At two o'clock
in the morning, the Due de Liancourt went into his bed
chamber and waking him, told him all ; told him that he
pawned his life on the truth of his narration, and that un
less he changed his measures speedily all was lost. The
King took his determination. The Bishop d'Autun (they
say) was called on to prepare un discours, which he did.
The orders were given for dispersing the troops, and at
the meeting of the Assembly the King, accompanied by

* Due Armand de Vignero d'Aguillon was the second of the noblesse to re
nounce his privileges in the session of August 4th, warmly supported the
popular cause in the States-General, and later took command of one of the
armies ; was prosecuted in 1792, but escaped by flight.

t Jacques Francois Baron de Menou. Served in the Republican army in
1793, in the Vendean campaign, and commanded the National Guard which
suppressed the insurrection in the Faubourg St. Antoine.

1789] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. J2Q

his two brothers and the captain of the guard, came in and
made his speech. This produced very enthusiastic emo
tions of joy, and he was reconducted to the Chateau by
the whole Assembly, and by all the inhabitants of Ver
sailles. They tell me that the Baron de Besenval * is de-
noncd by the Assemblee Nationale, which appellation the
King recognizes in his discours ; that they will pursue the
present ministry. I give my opinion that after what is
passed the Comte d'Artois should not be suffered to stay
in France. In this they agree. They say that they will
* faire le proces ' of the Marechal de Broglie, and probably
of the Baron de Breteuil. Sup with them, and, the claret
being better than any I have tasted in France, I give them
as a toast the liberty of the French nation and of the city
of Paris, which are drunk with very good will. Return
home. This has been a very fine day. It is said that the
King is to be in town at n o'clock to-morrow. But for
what ? Bon mot : The Baron de Besenval is denonce on
account of some letters he had written which were inter
cepted. The Due de la Rochefoucault, appointed one of
the Assemblee Nationale by the city of Paris, meets the
baron coming out of the King's cabinet. ' Eh bien, Mon
sieur le Baron, avez-vous encore les ordres a donner pour
Paris ? ' The baron takes it as a politcsse. ' Non, Mon
sieur le Due, excepte qu'on m'envoie mavoiture.' 'Appa-
remment c'est une voiture de poste, Monsieur le Baron.'
Another : In the procession yesterday the King and Comte
d'Artois, walking together, were much crowded. One
of the deputies said to another, ' Voyez comme on presse le
Roi et Monsieur le Comte d'Artois.' The other answered,
' II y a cette difference pourtant, que le Roi est presse par
1'amour de son peuple.' To which the King, not hearing

* Baron de Besenval was tried by M. Deseze, a celebrated advocate, and
discharged, March, 1790.

9

130 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. V.

more than the last words of the conversation, replied, in
turning round, ' Oui, c'est juste.' "

This was the last successful day for the king. Among
the deputies who, taking hands, made a chain around him
— even amid the cries of " Vive le Roi ! " — there lurked
suspicion. A woman in the crowd dared press by the
Comte d'Artois to the king and say to him, " Oh, my king,
are you sincere ? Will you not change within a fortnight ? "
"No," said the king, "I shall never change."

On the i6th a committee was held in the king's apart
ments, to discuss the important question whether His
Majesty should quit Versailles with the troops, or go to
Paris to calm the people. " The queen was for depart
ure," Madame Campan says, but it was decided that the
king alone should go to Paris. The king accordingly
went to Paris on the i7th, accompanied by the Marechal
de Beauvau, the Due de Villeroy, the Due de Villeguier,
and the Comte d'Estaing.* "The queen restrained her
tears," says Madame Campan, "and shut herself up with
her family in her private rooms. She scarcely expected
that the king would return ; a deadly terror reigned
throughout the palace, and fear was at its height."

"This morning" [July iyth], says the diary, "my coach
man tells me there are placards up forbidding any car
riages to run, as the King is in town this day between ten
and eleven. Here is another day in which nothing will be
done. Dress immediately, and go out. Get a window,
through the aid of Madame de Flahaut, in the Rue St.
Honore, through which the procession is to pass. In

* Count Charles Hector d'Estaing, commandant of the National Guard at
Versailles, was intimate at Court. Madame Campan says he us'ed to dine
with the butchers at Versailles, and nattered the people by the meanest con
descensions. He worked hard to save the king and queen, and was himself
guillotined in April, 1794.

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 131

squeezing through the crowd my pocket is picked of a
handkerchief, which I value far beyond what the thief
will get for it, and I should willingly pay him for his dex
terity could I retrieve it. We wait from eleven till four.
It seems that His Majesty was escorted by the militia of
Versailles to the Point-du-Jour, where he entered the
double file of Parisian militia which extends from thence
to the Hotel de Ville. Our friend Lafayette, elected
general of the militia of Paris, precedes his sovereign.
They move slowly, amid the acclamations of, ' Vive la na
tion !' Each line composed of three ranks ; consequently
it is a body six deep extending that distance. The Assem-
blee Nationale walk promiscuously together in the proces
sion. The King's Horse Guards, some of the Gardes du
Corps, and all those who attend him, have the cockades of
the city, viz., red and blue. It is a magnificent procession
in every respect. After it is over, go to dinner at the
* traiteur's,' and get a beefsteak and bottle of claret. A
deputy from Bretagne comes in, whom I met yesterday at a
table d'hote at Versailles. We seat him at our little table.
He tells me that the King yesterday sent the Assembly a
letter of recall for M. Necker ; that the ministers have all
resigned, except the Baron de Breteuil, who says he never
accepted ; that the Comte d'Artois, the Due and Du-
chesse de Polignac, M. de Vaudreuil, and, in short, the whole
Committee Polignac, have decamped last night in despair.
I tell him that travelling may be useful to the Comte
d'Artois, and therefore it may be well that he visited for
eign parts. We have a conversation on the commerce of
their islands, in which I state to him what I conceive to be
the true principle on which their system should be found
ed. He desires a further conversation, when that matter
shall be agitated. Tell him I am going to London. He
desires to have my address, that he may write to me. I

132 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. V.

promise to let him have it. He mentions something which
interests my friend the Comtesse de Flahaut. I tell him
sundry truths the communication of which will be useful
to her, and omit certain others which might prove injuri
ous, and thus make an impression different from what he
had received, but I fear the folly of her husband and the
madness of his brother will ruin them both. It is impos
sible to help those who will not help themselves. I call
on her, and tell her what has passed in the government.
Sit a while with her and the Abbe Bertrand, and then go
to the club. The King this day confirmed the choice made
by the mayor ; gave his approbation of the regiment of
city guards. He put in his hat a large cockade of the red
and blue ribbons, and then, and not till then, received the
general shouts of " Vive le Roi! " This day will, I think,
prove a useful lesson to him for the rest of his life, but he
is so weak that unless he is kept out of bad company it is
impossible that he should not act wrongly."

"The weather [July i8th] is pleasant, and the town be
gins to be a little quiet. I go to the club and take tea.
Kersaw tells me that the Augean stable of Versailles is
now quite clean. The Abbe Vermond, and the King's
valet de chambre De Thierry, and the Comte d'Angivill-
iers,* of his buildings, are departed. De Thierry he dis
missed, with many execrations. There are places in abun
dance to bestow now, and, of course, there will be an
abundance of intrigue to get them. In short, the whole
conspiracy against freedom is blown up to the moon."

* Count Charles Claude d'Angiviliers, a patron of arts and sciences, a favor
ite of Louis XVI., who made him Director of Royal Gardens, Manufactures,
and Buildings ; died in 1810.

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 133

CHAPTER VI.

Dinner at Madame de Flahaut's. Artists' studios. Dinner with Lafay
ette. Visit to the Bastille. The Club. Foulon's head carried through
the streets. Making up a foreign mail. Madame de Montmorin.
Ideas respecting a constitution for France. Asked to consult with the
ministers. Passport for London. Journey to England. Beggars.
Impressions of England.

THAT jolie intrigante, Madame de Flahaut, who never
failed to pull the strings that moved the puppets
high in authority, had probably some scheme in her clever
little head when she hospitably entertained her satellites
in the persons of the Abbe Bertrand, the Due de Biron, the
Eveque d'Autun, and Mr. Morris at dinner, soon after the
Augean stable at Versailles had been cleansed and there
were places in abundance to bestow. "Very agreeable,"
Morris says he found this society. It would not be
difficult to imagine the wit and abandon of the conversa
tion ; the spirituel and delicate repartee which fell from
the lips of the fair hostess ; the sarcastic and subtle wit,
joined with immense tact, which characterized the Bishop
of Autun ; the careless, daring indifference to conse
quences which seemed to belong to that Don Juan, the
Due de Biron ; the Abbe Bertrand, whom Morris always
found agreeable ; and, last of the number, Morris him
self, not very much behind the Frenchmen in wit and ap
preciation. It is matter of regret that none of the conver
sation found its way into the pages of the diary ; but "we
all go," Morris says (July ipth), "after dinner, to visit a
painter and see three pieces, in one of which the actual

1 34 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. VI.

execution of perspective goes beyond the power of my
imagination, particularly in the right hand of the princi
pal figure, which stands out so completely from the can
vas that one absolutely sees all round it, a thing scarce
credible, but which is not the less true. The subject is
Love escaped from his cage and leaving by his flight the
ladies in anguish and despair. The expression does not
come up to my ideas of the power of this art, but the
light and shade are distributed through the piece in a most
astonishing perfection. He (the painter) shows us a piece
he is now about for the King, taken from the ^Eneid :
Venus restraining the arm which is raised in the temple
of the Vestals to shed the blood of Helen. I tell him he
had better paint the Storm of the Bastille ; it will be a
more fashionable picture, and that one trait will admit of
a fine effect. It is of the garde fran$aise who, having got
hold of the gate and unable to bring it down, cries to his
comrades of the populace to pull by his legs. And this
man has the force and courage to hold while a dozen of
them pull him like a rope and bring down the gate, so
that he actually sustains the rack. To represent him
drawn out of joint, with his head turned round, encourag
ing them to pull still harder, must, I think, have a fine
effect. L'Eveque d'Autun agrees with me entirely in this
sentiment. Returning, we find M. de Rouille, who, I find,
is writing a history of the present revolution. He prom
ises to meet me at the club and give me the news of M.
Necker. Take the abbe home, and then go to the club.
M. de Rouille tells me they have yet no news of M.
Necker, but expect an express to-night, and that if he is
not yet farther than Brussels he will be in to-morrow
night. Recommend a subscription to collect the various
papers found in the Bastille, and then to employ an able
hand in writing the annals of that diabolical castle, from

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 135

the beginning of Louis Fourteenth's reign to the present
moment. Something of this sort will, I believe, be done.
Give the hint also of forming the Garde Franeaise into a
city guard, with very high pay, and keep up the corps by
putting with it all those who, by good conduct, shall have
merited something more than the rank of a common sol
dier, without being qualified for that of a sergeant. They
know not what to do at present with this corps."

" This morning [July 2oth] I go to the Hotel de Ville.
With much difficulty find out the Marquis de Lafayette,*
who is exhausted by a variety of attentions. Tell him I
will send his letters to America, and he must give me a
passport to visit the Bastille. Agree to dine with him, on
condition that I may bring my own wine. Return home,
write, and at four go to the Hotel de Lafayette. Find

there Madame and the Due de la Rochefoucault, M. ,

etc., to dine. He gives me my passport for the Bastille.
Suggest to him my plan respecting the Garde Francaise
which he likes. Advise him to have a completed plan for
the militia prepared, and to submit it to the committee.
Ask him if he can think of any steps which may be taken
to induce the King to confer on him the government of
the Isle of France. He tells me that he would prefer that
of Paris simply ; that he has had the utmost power his
heart could wish, and is grown tired of it ; that he has
commanded absolutely an hundred thousand men ; has
marched his sovereign about the streets as he pleased,
prescribed the degree of applause which he should re
ceive, and could have detained him prisoner had he
thought proper. He wishes therefore, as soon as possi-

* Lafayette had done most efficient work in Paris as commandant of the
National Guard. From the i4th to the 226. of July he, at the risk of his life,
saved seventeen persons from hanging and other violent deaths in different
quarters of the city.

136 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. VI.

ble, to return to private life. In this last expression he
deceives himself or wishes to deceive me, or both, per
haps. But in fact he is the lover of freedom from am
bition, of which there are two kinds : one born of pride,
the other of vanity, and his partakes most of the lat
ter."

"At half-past one [July 2ist] I call for Madame de Fla-
haut, who expressed a wish to accompany me to the Bas
tille. Capellis and the Abbe Bertrand are waiting. Pres
ently after Madame appears, with Mademoiselle Duplessis.
We get all together into the coach of Capellis, and go to
the Bastille.* Some difficulty in getting through the
guards, notwithstanding my passport. We meet in the
architect employed in the demolition an old acquaintance
of the abbe's, who is glad to be useful. He shows us
everything — more than I wish to see, as it stinks horribly.
The storming of this castle was a bold enterprise. Re
turn to the Louvre with Madame de Flahaut. Make a
long visit, at first tete-a-tete. Give her some verses, and
with infinite coolness tell her that I am perfectly my own
master with respect to her ; that, having no idea of in
spiring her with a tender passion, I have no idea either of
subjecting myself to one ; that, besides, I am timid to a
fault — that I know it to be wrong, but cannot help it. She
thinks it a very strange conversation, and, indeed, so it is ;
but I am much mistaken if it does not make an impression
much greater on reflection than at the present moment.
Nous verrons. The Duke of Orleans is at the club to-day.
I am as cold with respect to him as an Englishman. A
thousand to one we are never acquainted, but, if we are,
he must make au moins la moitie du chemin" This was Mor
ris's first sight of the duke, for, although he had been so

* The demolition of the Bastille was begun at once, and some of the pris
oners were found buried among the stones.

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 137

much with the duchess her lord had never appeared.
Possibly near her was the last place to look for him.

"To-day [July 22d] I go to the club to meet a gentle
man. At a table d'hote we have a good dinner for three.
Coffee, etc., included, the price of the dinner is 48 francs.
After dinner walk a little under the arcade of the Palais
Royal waiting for my carriage. In this period the head
and body of M. Foulon * are introduced in triumph, the
head on a pike, the body dragged naked on the earth.
Afterwards, this horrible exhibition is carried through the
different streets. His crime is to have accepted a place in
the ministry. This mutilated form of an old man of sev
enty is shown to Berthier, his son-in-law, the intendant of
Paris, and afterwards he is also put to death and cut to
pieces, the populace carrying about the mangled frag
ments with a savage joy. Gracious God ! what a peo
ple ! "

With the Seance Royale on the 226. of July the crisis
passed, and the destructive work of the revolution was
complete. As Taine says, " It is no longer a government
which falls that it may give way to another, it is all gov
ernment which ceases to exist." It was well to be able to
turn from such revolting spectacles as those which were
presented to the public gaze in the streets of Paris, and
forget for a moment scenes so atrocious, even if for-
getfulness were only attained by spending the entire night
making up a mail for America — an arduous task when the
grandfathers of the present generation sent letters across
the sea. " I wrote all night," Morris says (July 23d),
"and went to bed at seven this morning. Waked up at
eight to seal my letters. Take some more sleep, and be
tween one and two respond to a wish of Madame de Fla-

* Foulon was conseiller d'etat. His anti-popular opinions cost him his
life.

138 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. VI

haul's that I should go to see her, as she does not go as
she intended to Versailles. She keeps me to dine, and
after dinner we glide into a confidential conversation. To
cure me of any sentiment she might inspire in me, she
avows a marriage of the heart. I guess the person. She
acknowledges it, and assures me that she cannot commit
an infidelity to him. I leave her, and go to Jefferson's.
Sit and chat and take tea."

Of Jefferson's standing in Paris Morris wrote to Robert
Morris (July 22d) in the following terms : " He commands
very much respect in this country, which is merited by
good sense and good intentions. The French, who pique
themselves on possessing the graces, very readily excuse
in others the want of them, and to be an Granger (like
charity) covers a multitude of sins. On the whole, there
fore, I incline to think that an American minister at this
Court gains more than he loses by preserving his original
ity. Mr. Jefferson lives well, keeps a good table and ex
cellent wines, which he distributes freely."

On the eve of a journey to England, then a formidable
undertaking, Morris mentions going out to Versailles to
say good-by to his friends there — among them, Madame
de Montmorin. " I desire to be favored with her com
mands for London," he says. " To my compliments on
the Count being restored to his place, she replies that she
wishes to be a good way off, that she is shocked at the
scenes acting in Paris." The terrible catastrophe which
later overtook her and her family cast its shadow before
it and over her very early in the Revolution. M. de Mont
morin perished in the September massacres. She and one
son died on the scaffold. One daughter died in prison,
and Madame de Beaumont died of grief. "After dining
with the Montmorins," Morris continues, " among other
things I speak to monsieur of M. de Moustier. Tell him

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 139

confidentially that he is not agreeable to the people of
America, and that he must send us such a man as the
Chevalier de la Luzerne. He tells me in confidence the
person he intends to send over, but makes me promise
not to mention it to anybody. Visit at De la Luzerne's.
He reproves me for not dining with him. I find he is
taking a great deal of pains to show that he is well with M.
Necker, which proves beyond all things to me the prepon
derance which Necker will have in the council. I presume
the place of Garde des Sceaux is kept vacant until his
pleasure shall be known." Later in the evening, "visit
Madame de Tesse. She is deeply engaged in a political
discussion. I find that the high democrats begin to cool
a little, and I think that by degrees they will feel, though
they would not understand reason."

Morris had been requested by a member of the States-
General to " throw together some thoughts respecting
the constitution of this country. I am occupied all Sat
urday morning [July 24th], in this work. While I am
about it, Dr. McDonald comes in. I read to him what I
have written, and see him forcibly struck with the thoughts
and with the manner. This serves as an evidence to me
that there is some weight and truth in my observations."

The following evening (July 25th) he dined with Mr.
Jefferson, who gave him several letters of introduction for
use in London, and a passport. Sunday morning (July
26th), he received a note "from Madame de Flahaut, who
has something to communicate. Visit her at one. She
desires to know whether I will go to Versailles to confer
with the committee who are to report a constitution. She
is charged by one of them to make this request. I reply
that if it will not delay my departure for London I shall
consult, conceiving it my duty to render any service I
can to this country. I explain to her the paper written

140 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. VI.

yesterday, that she may translate it afterwards. Have a
little chit-chat, and dine with her partie carree, and after
wards drive and walk in the Bois de Boulogne. Received
while I was dressing a note from Madame de Chastellux,
desiring me to interest Lafayette in favor of a protege of her
late husband, who wants to be placed in the Regiment Natio
nal. At five go by appointment to Madame de Flahaut's.
She is at her toilette. Monsieur comes in. She dresses
before us with perfect decency, even to her shift. Mon
sieur leaves us to make a long visit, and we are to occupy
ourselves in making a translation."

" See Lafayette to-day [July 28th], to ask a commission
for the protege of Madame de Chastellux, and I desire
him to give the King some consolation which may make
him easy, as it is of the last importance to France. I
cannot tell him my reasons, because they are founded
on a secret intrusted to me, but I am most serious. As
we cannot have conversation now, he desires me to dine
with him. Return home and set about the translation of
what I wrote yesterday afternoon. Interrupted by visit
ors. As soon as completed, go to Madame de Flahaut's.
Monsieur not gone, as was intended, to Versailles. This
is unfortunate. He comes in and chats a while, but it is
clear that he means to give us the pleasure of his com
pany, that we may not have the pleasure of his absence.
This is very absurd. People who wish to please should
never be troublesome. Go to Madame de Fouquet's. A
lively conversation ; pressed to stay to dinner. Cannot.
Promise on my return to visit her immediately. Make
various visits, and go to M. de Lafayette's and dine. After
dinner mention again M. Martin's affair, and he prom
ises to do all in his power. Urge again the taking meas
ures to put the King at ease (note — Madame de Flahaut
gave me yesterday the communication), upon which he is

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 141

desirous of knowing my reasons. I tell him that they arise
from a secret communication, therefore cannot go farther.
Propose an association to protect the Prince, and to de
clare those who may insult him enemies, both public and
private. Propose a plan to get rid of the difficulty of the
Assemblee Nationale, which is bound not to tax till the
constitution is completed, and which is pressed in conse
quence for time. Then urge strongly the danger of a con
stitution too democratical, and leave him. Go to Madame
de Segur's ; take leave, with an engagement to correspond
together ; thence to Madame de Flahaut's. Monsieur is
there, and Vicq d'Azyr, the Queen's head physician. The
latter goes away presently. The former is called down,
and she communicates a request for my thoughts on the
subject of education for the French. Monsieur enters —
again is obliged to go abroad. This is right. Take sup
per with Madame de Flahaut. Some conversation with
her and Monsieur, who returns, which is on the interest
ing subject of their public affairs. He seems well pleased
with me, which is uncommon. Make arrangements for a
correspondence with Madame."

All preparations for the journey to London were fi
nally completed — except the passport — to obtain which
required a visit to Lafayette at the Hotel de Ville. "I
do this," Morris says, "on the principle that if I do not
take care of my own business, I cannot expect anyone
else to do it for me. Mankind are in the constant prac
tice of believing in the attention of others, and of neglect
ing those who believe in them. // faut fare juste. I find
that I was right. At the Hotel de Ville there are a world
of difficulties, but they are at length all surmounted.
From thence I go to take leave of Madame de Flahaut,
and thence to Madame de Corney ; a number of gentle re
proaches for neglecting her, which I had well merited."

142 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. VI.

The next day, with post books and maps, Morris started
on his journey. Outside of Paris many convoys of wheat
and flour going to Paris, escorted by troops, and large
droves of cattle and pigs, which he mentions as being
" the worst formed animals I ever saw ; long, narrow, and
meagre, they seem more fitted for the race than the table,"
had possession of most of the road. The weather was fine,
and " the mind and eye," he says, "are delighted by the
exuberance of the approaching harvest." At the entrance
to Dieppe a number of questions were asked, owing
to the fact of a number of refugees having lately passed
into England. While waiting for a calm sea and a favor
ing wind to take him to the shores of England, Morris
availed himself of the opportunity of a vessel sailing di
rect to New York, to write to Washington an account of re
cent events at Paris. He told him as private news that
"the Comte de Moustier has his conge and Colonel
Ternant will be his successor as charge d'affaires, and
possibly as minister later. The important trait in this ap
pointment is that he is named as a person who will be
agreeable to us. You may rely on what I am about to
mention, but which I pray you not to disclose. It is
known to very few in this country, and may perhaps (as it
ought) be buried in oblivion. The King has actually
formed the design of going off to Spain. Whether the
measures set on foot to dissuade him will have, as I hope,
the desired effect, time only can discover. His fears govern
him absolutely, and they have of late been most strongly
excited. He is a well-meaning man, but extremely weak,
and probably these circumstances will in every event se
cure him from personal injury. An able man would not
have fallen into his situation, but I think that no ability can
now extricate him. He must float along on the current of
events, being absolutely a cypher. If, however, he should

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 143

fly, it will not be easy to predict the consequences, for
this country is at present as near to anarchy as society
can approach without dissolution. There are some able
men in the National Assembly, yet the best heads among
them would not be injured by experience, and unfortu
nately there are a good number who, with much imagina
tion, have little knowledge, judgment, or reflection. You
may consider the revolution as complete ; that is to say, the
authority of the King and of the nobility is completely
subdued, but yet I tremble for the constitution. They
have all that romantic spirit, and all those romantic ideas
of government which, happily for America, we were cured
of before it was too late. They are advancing rapidly. I
pass over those facts which you cannot but know, to men
tion in one word that the whole army of France have de
clared for liberty, and that one reason why His Majesty has
not taken the step above mentioned is that he does not
know a single regiment that would obey him."

The usual vicissitudes of weather and the usual discom
forts of the Channel awaited Morris when he started for
England on the ist of August, and it was not until the 3d
that he finally landed at Brighthelmstone. Three miles
from shore the vessel was met by a small boat, and the
passengers were landed on the beach, and "got on shore
dry, a thing which does not always happen," he says.
Lodgings were difficult to find owing to the races, and
the traveller did not linger longer than to notice that the
"cleanliness of the place forms a reverse of the place I
quitted yesterday, although that is the cleanest town,
except Versailles, I have seen in France." After many
detentions and failures to provide post-horses, the races
at Lewes being the absorbing interest of the moment,
Morris at length started for London. " In descending a
hill," he says, "we arrive at a seat of Lord Abergavenny.

144 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. VI.

The old castle, which was once, I suppose, the residence
of the feudal tyrant of this soil, becomes now simply an
object of ornament to the grounds. The house is neat,
and the clumps of trees which are strewed upon the wav
ing ground of vivid green derive an additional beauty by
contrast. At Croydon they are holding the sessions, so
that we have great difficulty to get anything. In the last
ten miles I see some fine forest-trees, but not before.
Those which had met my view were small and low, so that
I actually, in one instance, took the forest for a large
orchard till I came very near. I have as yet seen no land
in Europe equal to our best soil in America, and very lit
tle as good as our second quality. All the difference of
product arises from culture. With perpetual rains they
have but little water, and, to my great surprise, in this hilly
country, I have found no springs or rivulets."

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, 145

CHAPTER VII.

London. The Haymarket Theatre. The Marquis de la Luzerne. Trum-
bull. The refugees. Lady Dunmore. The Cosways. Hon. Mrs.
Darner. Society duties. Strictures on society. Sail on the Thames.
Downe Place. Returns to Paris. Critical state of affairs. Madame
de Tesse. Lafayette. Public opinion sets against the National As
sembly. Finances. Scarcity of bread. The Flanders Regiment*
Social life. Prepares a memorandum on subsistence. The queen.
Madame de Flahaut. The banners blessed. The opera. Resistance
to authority among the bakers. Versailles. Question on the finances.
Mirabeau speaks in the Assembly. Meets Madame de Stael.
Conversation with Madame de Flahaut. Asked to furnish flour for
Paris.

AS the traveller neared London, the absence of " those
fine trees which give," he says, " an air of mag
nificence to the approaches to Paris " surprised him.
" The last stage brings me to the Adelphi Hotel, and
early next morning Mr. Parker comes to breakfast. He
is to get me good lodgings and a chariot, and will send
out his servant for these purposes while I dress. He has
found lodgings, according to Mr. Parker's directions, in
the same street with him. Cela s'entend. Do not observe
it, even by a look. The dealer in carriages enters, and we
agree for a carriage and horses, which will cost me four
guineas a week, besides a shilling a day for board wages
for the coachman. This is pretty well. Go to look at the
lodgings. They are very indifferent, at two guineas per
week. Go from thence to Frome's Hotel, Covent garden,
where I take rooms at six shillings per day, and one shil
ling for my servant. This is dear ; however, it will do till

10

146 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. VII.

I can get in a better position. After dinner Mr. Parker
goes with me to the Haymarket Theatre. This, it seems,
is a benefit night. The pieces and performers, one only
excepted, are alike wretched. From the applause lavished
by the audience I am led to question their taste, or give
entirely up my own. In the box adjoining to us is Lady
Dunmore and family. With the aid of rouge she looks as
well, I think, as when I saw her in America, near twenty
years ago, and then she was pretty well advanced, and
rather to be admired for grace than beauty."

A visit to the Marquis de la Luzerne, * the French am
bassador, was among his first duties. " His reception,"
Morris says, " is perfectly good." The next visit was one of
business, to Mr. Bourdieu. " I talk to him about a loan.
He tells me that nothing of that kind can be done in the city;
that perhaps I may meet with people at the west end of
the town who are better disposed, but that the name of
America terrifies the mercantile part of the community.
I receive some letters here, but none from Holland, so that
I cannot go to work for relief of Robert Morris's affairs.
Madame de Flahaut, in a letter, gives me an account of
poor Besenval's capture and detention."

Next day (August jth) he goes to see R. Penn, who re
ceives him quite en famille. " He tells me the state of the
family claims and his own, and desires me to consider
myself at home at his house. Call on Sir John Sinclair f
at Whitehall. He is out of town. Later go to dine with
the Marquis de la Luzerne ; several of the Corps Diploma
tique. The Marquis de la Luzerne informs me of the or-

* Anne Cesar, Chevalier de la Luzerne, ambassador to London in 1788.
He had been sent in 1779 to the United States as minister, and, without in
structions from his government, performed the responsible duties of the posi
tion with credit. He died at London in 1791.

t Sir John Sinclair originated the Board of Agriculture, and wrote many
valuable books, essays on agriculture, etc.

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 147

ganization of their ministry : M. de la Tour du Pin, Min
ister of War ; 1'Archeveque of Bordeaux, Garde des
Sceaux, which Malesherbes refused. I am sorry for this
refusal Tell the Marquis that I understood the Bishop
of Autun was thought of for it. He says that he has not
the right kind of head for this office. Thence I conclude
that he is rather visionary in his ideas, and perhaps he is,
for that is the common misfortune of men of genius who
do not sufficiently mix in the affairs of the world."

"To-day [August 8thJ I call on Mr. Trumbull the painter.
He shows me a small piece he has copied from his original
Sortie of Gibraltar, which I think very fine. Return home
and dine on a composition called turtle-soup, with which
I drink a composition called claret. The latter is prefer
able to the former." To the refugees who were always
to be found in considerable numbers in the drawing-rooms
of the Marquis de la Luzerne, Morris tried to admin
ister a little comfort. He says of them : " The refugees
talk a little refugee, which is natural. I tell them that all
the little commotions — burning castles, etc. — though pain
ful and distressing, are but specks in the great business,
and will if they get a good constitution be soon forgotten.
M. de Fitzjames inquires of me the news from Paris,
but I find that we left it about the same time. I did not
recollect him, but it seems that we had met at club. The
Marquis de la Luzerne takes me aside, and we converse a
little on their politics. I think his object is merely to show
an attention before his company which may be useful to
me. In going in to dinner M. Gate, the Lieutenant de
Police, takes hold of me, and says he will not be parted.
Seats himself next me, and at dinner tells me his story.
All this requires polite attention on my part, which is paid.
Dine on a very fine trout, or rather a part of one, which I
think must have weighed about eight pounds. Observe

148 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. VII.

that I am somewhat a favorite with Madame la Vicomtesse.
This must be kept up, ' et pour cause. Inquiries are made,
I find, by Lady Dunmore and her daughter about the
jambe de bois. Lady Dunmore makes acquaintance after
dinner ; asks the opinion of my countrymen about his lord
ship ; I tell her candidly. We have a conversation which
she is pleased with, and to my surprise, and I dare say her
own, we are on terms of great familiarity. La Luzerne
and Capellis, I find, remark on it, so that I am obliged to
join them and stop the laugh. The French tell him a
world of wonders and confusions, upon which I take him
aside and tell him to believe nothing of what they say ;
that it is refugee news, and he knows well what sort of
thing that is. The Princesse Galitzen, who shares in the
conversation with Lady Dunmore, is, I find, like others to
tally mistaken with respect to the troubles in France. They
all supposed, as was supposed in the American Revolution,
that there are certain leaders who occasion everything,
whereas in both instances it is the great mass of the peo
ple. At going away her ladyship thanks me for answer
ing her questions."

Among other letters, Morris had one to Mrs. Cosway,
the wife of the distinguished miniature-painter. By ap
pointment, one evening was spent in her drawing-rooms,
where were a "very genteel company," he says, " the
Dowager Duchess of Bedford among them. Music very
good. The arrangement of the company, however, is
stiff and formal. There must be in this, as in other coun
tries, the ways of bringing people together, even to in
timacy, but it appears at the first aspect to be rather
difficult. We shall see. I observe to the Hon. Mrs. Da
rner * that the French, having no liberty in their govern-

* Anne Seymour Darner, the sculptress, was born in 1748, and was the only
child of Field Marshal Conway. Her family connections were of the very

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 149

ment, have compensated to themselves that misfortune
by bestowing a great deal upon society ; but that I fear
in England it is confined to the House of Commons. She
seems to suppose the latter part of this observation ironi
cal, and tells me, with an animated smile, that we enjoy
liberty in my country. This lady is a great statuary, and
is doing the King. Quaere, if she copies after nature, for
she does it as large as life. Her taste is justly considered
as extraordinary, but I doubt whether she is the single
instance within these three kingdoms of a fair one who
keeps at home a block to work upon. Visit at the assem-
blee of Madame de la Luzerne. The Duke and Duchess
of Luxemburg are there, and the Duke and Duchess of
Leeds. After some time the Duke of Leeds makes up
and inquires of Mr. Adams. A light conversation ensues.
After the Duke and Duchess of Leeds retire, Lady Dun-
more, whom I had seen at Mrs. Cosway's, comes in. A
little sociable chat in the small circle until late."

Together with his very important and difficult business
affairs, Morris found that his rapidly increasing society

best blood in England, and her birth and beauty entitled her to a life of ease
and luxury, but she early developed a taste for art and studies, which taste
her cousin, Horace Walpole, took great pleasure in directing. David Hume
seems to have given her the first impulse toward the art of sculpture when,
on one occasion, while walking together, they met a vender of plaster casts.
Hume stopped to speak to the lad, looked at his wares, and gave him a shil
ling. The lively Miss Conway laughed at him for wasting time on such pal
try images ; whereupon the historian gently reproved her, telling her not to
be so severe, that it had required both science and genius to make even such
poor imitations, and, he continued, "with all your attainments you cannot
produce such works." After this conversation she set herself to model in
wax, and finally to cut the marble. Mrs. Damer was one of the trio of beau
tiful women who canvassed London during the bitterly contested election of
Charles James Fox for Westminster. On the death of Horace Walpole Mrs.
Damer found herself the possessor of his Gothic villa at Strawberry Hill, and
here, amid the splendid confusion of things valuable and otherwise, and sur
rounded by her chosen companions, Mrs. Berry, Mrs Garrick, Mrs. Siddons,
and, last but not least, Joanna Baillie, she passed the last years of her life.
She died in her eightieth year, after an eventful and interesting career.

I 50 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. VII.

duties kept him more than agreeably occupied. " From
the necessity of being my own clerk," as he wrote to
Robert Morris, August 26th, "and the interruptions to
which I am constantly exposed, you will easily perceive
that my moments are few and precious. Indeed, in the
way I now live, I might pass five years in London and yet
know but little more of it than when I left Philadelphia."
He regretted much that he had been able to make so
little progress in Mr. Robert Morris's affairs. " But I
have had," he wrote, " the wind ahead of me ever since I
left the Capes of Delaware. It will be favorable by and
bye."

The London " rout " was evidently not in accord with
Morris's taste, and he expresses an ever-fresh astonish
ment at the stiffness of the drawing-rooms and the la
dies. " I go to-night to Mrs. Cosway's," he says. " She is
vastly pleasant, but her ladies are all ranged in battalia
on the opposite side of the room. Discuss a little with
her .the froideur anglaise, and, while she is in conversation
with them, throw the pith of that discussion into these
stanzas, which I leave with her, being a kind of address
to the ladies.

By nature's various beauty blest,

Ah ! why your wealth conceal,
And why, in cold indifference drest,

Her blessings not reveal?

Vast treasures in a heart confined

No pleasures can impart ;
And so the treasures of the mind,

And feelings of the heart.

Your conversation, like your coin,

Is gold, but yet 'tis strange
How oft, when social circles join,

You want a little change.

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. I5l

Observe that she is about to communicate this for their
edification, and therefore take Capellis off with me."

Notwithstanding the multiplicity of his engagements,
Morris found time to see a few of the sights of London.
He speaks of taking a wherry at Westminster Bridge and
going down the Thames. " The Bridge of Blackfriars is
crumbling to pieces, and London Bridge does not seem
formed in a manner to last forever. The famous building
of Somerset House, which I had heard vaunted highly,
seems to be built in a paltry style, and the front of stone
accords but illy with the sides of brick. The shipping are
the really curious object here. These give to the reflect
ing mind a high idea of the commerce and wealth of this
great city. Having gone down to the farthest of those
which can properly be said to lie in the port of London,
we ascend the river again to the Tower stairs, where my
carriage is waiting. The wherries of this river are admi
rably calculated for stemming rapid currents."

A visit to Downe Place, the country-seat of John B.
Church,* Member of Parliament from Wendover, proved
most interesting. One day (September 6th) was delight
fully employed visiting Herschel. " He receives us,"
Morris says, " in a manner which is, I think, peculiar to
men of his kind of greatness : simplicity, modesty, mild
ness. He shows and explains his great telescope ; a

* John B. Church had been Commissary-General under Lafayette in Amer
ica during the Revolution ; an Englishman of very high social position and
great wealth, he made himself prominent as a citizen of New York, and while
there married Miss Angelica Schuyler, a member of a family who warmly es
poused the cause of America. On his return to England Mr. Church found
himself out of favor with the Tories, but thoroughly independent in politics as
in purse, he soon found friends among the Pitt and Fox party, and was elected
to Parliament from Wendover. Mr. Church's house in London, was the
frequent resort of Pitt, Fox, and Burke. Talleyrand sought refuge under
his roof, and through Church's exertions, when ordered by government to
leave London in twenty-four hours Talleyrand was enabled to flee to America.

152 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. VII.

speculum now polishing for it weighs 1,400 Ibs. — that
in present use, 2,500. The polishing at present is per
formed by a machine, but formerly it was done by hand,
and twenty-two men were engaged in that work twenty
weeks. The concavity of this speculum is about two-
tenths of an inch, the diameter about three feet, I think.
The substance is a composition of metals. From thence
we go to Windsor Castle," the view from which especially
impressed him.

Arrived in town on the 8th, Mr. Parker communicated
intelligence which, Morris says, "affects deeply our plan
about the purchase of the American debt to France. I
must in consequence set off immediately for Paris." For
this M. de la Luzerne provided him with a passport, and
Mrs. Penn gave him a guinea to buy rouge for her, and
on Wednesday, the pth, he left London. This return
journey was made by the way of Canterbury and Dover,
at which place he arrived on the loth, and hired a cutter
to take him across the channel. "After much higgling,"
he says, "by the boatman over the price, and having got
outside the harbor, find that there is as little of cleanliness
as of morality on board. At eight o'clock, being much fa
tigued, I go below and lie down on a blanket spread on
the cabin floor. The bed is hard but wholesome. The
vermin, however, have not yet supped and I must furnish
them entertainment. The hope of slumber is, from this
and other circumstances, soon over." By two o'clock in
the morning, however, he was safely on shore "at a clean
house and between clean sheets without the walls of Cal
ais." While he is preparing to depart thence on the mor
row, " a friar comes in to beg, with an air that shows his
conviction how improper a thing it is to lay me under that
kind of contribution. I tell him it is a bad trade which
he follows, and that I understand the National Assembly

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. I S3

are about to reform such institutions. He has heard so,
but as this is the only mode they have to get a living they
must continue at it as long as possible. I give a shilling,
and in return for the usual routine of good wishes, (which
he runs over with the same easy air which distinguished
my friend Dr. Cooper, of King's College, in reading the
Litany) I wish him a better business. This wish is more
sincere than his, by a shilling at least. At eleven leave
Calais, duly provided with a passport from the new gov
ernment. Cross the Oyse. Near Clermont, on its banks,
is the chateau of the Due de Liancourt, to whose inter
position is attributed the timely retreat of poor Louis
Seize upon the taking of the Bastille.

" Being obliged to stop at Chantilly to repair the linch
pin of the carriage, I examine the stables ; a magnificent
habitation, indeed, for twenty dozen horses, who have the
honor to dine and sup at the expense of Monseigneur le
Prince de Conde. From thence I take a view of the chateau
on the outside, but have not time for examination. It must
have been strong before the invention of cannon. At pres
ent the wide, deep fosse which surrounds it, and which is
well supplied with good water, furnishes an agreeable
habitation to a variety of carp, white-spotted, etc., who
come at a call and eat the bread thrown to them. My
conductor is a politician, but he is not of the fashionable
sect. He is a chasseur of the Prince and finds it very
wrong * que tout le monde ait le droit de chasser.' On
the way I observe a very uncommon mode of hunting par
tridges. The chasseurs, armed with clubs, are spread every
where over the fields. When a bird lights, it is pursued
until it is so fatigued it falls a victim to pursuers. Mar
tin thinks it is a sin and a shame, but while he utters his
lamentations the postilion turns round to me : ' C'est un
beau privilege que les Francais se sont acquis, monsieur.'

154 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. VII.

* Oui, monsieur, mais il me parait que ce privilege ne
vaudra pas autant 1'annee prochaine.' "

"On Tuesday [September i3th], about seven, I arrive at
the Hotel de Richelieu, at Paris. Dress and go to the club.
I learn that the Assemblee Nationale have agreed to a single
chamber of legislation, and a suspensive veto in the King.
This is travelling in the high-road to anarchy, and that
worst of all tyrannies, the despotism of a faction in a popu
lar assembly. I am led into a little discussion on this
subject, and stay to supper, after which taste some Hun
garian wine presented by a Polish colonel, whose name
ends with 'whisky,' but his liquor is delicious. By one
means or another seven bottles are consumed, and two
more being ordered, I rise and declare that I will drink no
more, which puts an end to the business. The Duke of
Orleans comes in during this match, and from some little
circumstances I perceive that I may be well acquainted
with his Royal Highness if I please."

"Writing to-day [September i6th] till noon. Then call
on Mr. Jefferson. He engages me to dine to-morrow in
company with the Marquis de Lafayette and the Due de la
Rochefoucault. I then start for Versailles, and call on
Madame de Tot. She is at her toilette but visible. Some
conversation on their affairs, by which I find that opinions
change. Return to M. de Montmorin's to dine. Madame
is much afflicted by the state of affairs. Madame de Segur
comes in with her brothers. She is in great anxiety ; ap
prehends that the King will fly. I tell her that his flight
appears impracticable. She thinks it will set Paris in a
flame. There is no conjecturing the consequences. A
prince so weak can influence very little either by his pres
ence or absence. After dinner we have a conversation on
politics with some of the deputies, in which P endeavor to
show them the absurdity of their suspensive veto, and the

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS.

probable tyranny of their single chamber. I had better
let this alone, but zeal always gets the better of prudence.
M. de Montmorin expresses a wish to see me often, which
I promise, but think it will not be possible to perform this
time."

Calling on Madame de Montvoissieu, he found her
" very indignee" and adds that " she, as well as Madame de
Segur, wishes to be in America." Thence he went to see
Madame de Tesse. " She is a convert to my principles.
We have a gay conversation of some minutes on their af
fairs, in which I mingle sound maxims of government with
that piquant legerete which this nation delights in. I am
fortunate, and at going away she follows me and insists
that I dine with her next time I come to Versailles. We are
vastly gracious, and all at once, in a serious tone, ' Mais
attendez, madame, est-ce que je suis trop aristocrate ?'
She answers, with a smile of gentle humiliation, ' Ah, mon
Dieu, non.' From thence I regain my carriage, to go to
the Assemblee Nationale to find De Cantaleu. While wait
ing there -I see, among others, young Montmorency, who
takes me round and procures admittance to the gallery.
Chance places me next to Madame Dumolley and Madame
de Cantaleu. We recognize each other suddenly, with a
very pleasant surprise. Madame Dumolley asks me the
question which I have already been obliged to answer a
hundred times: ' Et que disent les Anglais de nous au-
tres?' With a significant tone, 'Ah, madame, c'est qu'ils
raisonnent, ces messieurs-la!"'

" Dine to-day [September iyth], according to my prom
ise, with Mr. Jefferson. One of his guests, the Due de la
Rochefoucault, is just come from the States-General, and
at half-past four Lafayette arrives. He tells us that some
of the troops under his command were about to march to
morrow to Versailles to urge the decisions of the States-

156 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. VII.

General. This is a rare situation, for which they must
thank themselves. I ask him if his troops will obey him.
He says they will not mount guard when it rains, but he
thinks they will readily follow him into action. I incline
to think that he will have an opportunity of making the
experiment. Mention to him my desire to confer on the
subject of subsistence. He says I must come and dine
with him ; but this is idle, if I am rightly informed, because
he generally has a crowd and is but few minutes at home.
After dinner go to the club. The opinions are changing
fast, and in a very little time, if the Assemblee Nationale
continue their present career, a majority of this nation
will, I think, be opposed to them. Their adherents, how
ever, are zealous, and if a civil war does not take place it
must be from some circumstance which escapes my con
jecture. There is, indeed, one thing which promises peace ;
viz., that from the King's feebleness of character nobody
can trust themselves to him or risk themselves in support
of his authority. But if he escapes from Versailles and
falls into different hands from those now about him there
must be a struggle. A slight circumstance will show how
well the present rulers are fitted to conduct the affairs of
this kingdom. Lafayette is very anxious about the scarc
ity of bread, and holds out that circumstance for conversa
tion and discussion. The Due de la Rochefoucault there
upon tells us of some one who has written an excellent
book upon the commerce of grain."*

It would be unnecessary to enlarge here upon the unique,
and at the same time pathetic, impulse of the nobles in the
Assembly at Versailles on the night of the 4th of August.
It seemed a sudden awakening to a sense of love and jus
tice, and a devastating battle ensued between self-interest,
the traditions of years, and the great inspiration which,

* The Abbe Galiani, who wrote the Dialogues sur le Commerce des Bles.

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 1 57

born in that moment, threw a lurid light upon the rotten
ness of the feudal system and the pressing needs of the
people. The decrees and regulations which followed the
resolutions of that night are matters of history. Taine
says they were but so many spiders' webs stretched across
a torrent. There was excitement and joy in the ranks of
the mob, but deep depression and gloom followed the al
most hysterical generosity and self-abnegating spirit of the
nobles during that memorable night. Louis XVI. ap
peared to receive with gratitude the title of Restorer of
French Liberty, which after much wrangling was offered
to him en masse by the Assembly, on the i3th of August.
They chanted a Te Deum and struck off a medal, but the
homage offered reduced to nothing the kingly power.

''To-night [September iSth] at the club, where I take
supper, the king's letter to the Assembly on the subject of
the resolutions of the nobles on the famous Fourth of
August is introduced. It is very moderate and, like the
rest of M. Necker's writings, too long and flowery, but it
will excite much sensation, I believe. It holds out the
idea of retreating if pushed hard, which is a sort of invita
tion to the aggressor. But one thing that perhaps the
ministers are not aware of is, that from this moment the
King will derive force from every instance of disrespect
which is shown to him. Nothing can save the National
Assembly but modesty and humility, their share of which
is not too abundant. The current of opinion begins to
set strong against the Assemblee Nationale. Many who
looked on with anxious silence six weeks ago now speak
out, and loudly."

Again, at this time, Morris pressed on Lafayette the
question of subsistence for the army. But he was slow
to make arrangements, and complaints came to Morris of
failures on Lafayette's part to keep promises. He says of

158 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. VII.

him : " I have known my friend Lafayette now for many
years, andean estimate at the just value both his words and
his actions. If the clouds which now lower should be
dissipated without a storm, he will be infinitely indebted
to fortune ; but if it happen otherwise, the world must
pardon much on the score of intention. He means ill to
no one, but he has the besoin debriller. He is very much
below the business he has undertaken, and if the sea runs
high he will be unable to hold the helm."

Necker had declared in August that the treasury was
empty. The Due d'Aiguillon showed among the expenses
of the State, the debts of the Count d'Artois alone, which
amounted to one hundred and twenty thousand francs : the
items — gardens, horses, dogs, and mistresses. The August
and September receipts were thirty-seven, and the expen
ditures seventy millions. The finances were at the mo
ment the all-absorbing topic of conversation. "At the
club to-day [September 2oth] they are in violent discus
sion about the finances, which seem to be going fast to
the devil. Opinions are changing fast, and in about fif
teen days we shall hear somewhat of the sentiment the
provinces entertain of their present rulers."

These last days of September were full of terror. There
was no money, and there was no bread. At Versailles the
king, and those in authority under him, struggled feebly
to meet the emergency, with what success the horrors of
the 5th of October give a melancholy proof. At Paris
the mob struggled against hunger and misery, and died in
the struggle. In the midst of their trouble they were told
that the king, whom they looked on as their only friend,
was to be taken to Metz. Simultaneously the streets filled
with foreign uniforms. Green trimmed with red, and black
cockades were seen. Enemies seemed to encompass Paris.
There was movement and excitement everywhere ; a cer-

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 159

tain ominous agitation as of impending peril. Since the
i5th of September some members of the Assembly had
known, through warning letters, that the 5th of October
was fixed for a decisive blow. On the i8th came the news
of the inarch of the Garde Francaise to Versailles ; on
the 23d the Flanders Regiment arrived. Meanwhile the
other life of Paris went on. The gayety seemed to grow
more giddy and reckless, as if impelled by some unseen
force to its destruction. "Indeed," Morris says, "pleas
ure is the great business ; everybody has his country-seat,
and comes to town to do business once in three or four
days, and then works not to finish but to get rid of work,
that he may again go out of town, making business deal
ings with them extremely uncertain." People dined and
drank plentifully, and went to the theatre or opera, to
forget all care. Morris mentions Marmontel's " Didon,"
which, he says, "is given as well as an opera can con
veniently be." And so in various ways society, so called,
closed its eyes to what was enacting in real life, outside
the walls of the theatre, at its own doors.

In the midst of constant and varied demands upon his
time — for the fair dames of Paris were exacting of the
devotion of those who had been admitted to the boudoir
and bedroom — Morris found time to prepare for M. de
Corney a memoir e on the subject of subsistence. Lafayette,
when told by M. de Corney of the note, said that he would
push it with all his power — that a plan from Mr. Morris
on subsistence merited every attention.

" At the club to-night [September 22d] there is nothing
worthy of remark," the diary says, "except that everyone
seems now to be of opinion that queens should be exclud
ed from the regency, on like principles to those by which
they are excluded from the throne, viz., la lot salique ; and
further, that no stranger should be in the regency. This

l6o DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. VII.

last article is not amiss, if the first can be excepted out of
the provision. I tell them my opinion, which is generally
disliked, but they will change. One of the company waits,
as I am going out, to whisper that he is of my opinion."

Madame de Flahaut, who was deep in the secrets of the
government, chiefly through her intimacy with the Bish
op of Autun, was also the confidante of Morris in his
plans for the public benefit. " This morning I go by ap
pointment to see Madame de Flahaut. She is at her toi
lette with her dentist. Show her a list of the Committee
of the Finances and take her opinion of some characters ;
finally, I tell her that I have a project respecting them in
which she must participate and must aid in the execution
of. She gives me reason to expect that M. de Montes-
quiou will be Minister of the Marine, and that in such case
good things may be done. We shall see. At the club I
hear a sketch of Necker's propositions to the States. They
appear to me strange. However, no judgment can be
formed till we have the details."

" Madame de Flahaut has the latest news from Versailles
to-day [September 25th]. She says that Necker has made
a wretched discourse filled with self-applause ; that the
Marquis de Montmorin will to-morrow report from the
Committee of Finance upon his propositions, and therein
will detail his own plan ; asks if I will go, as in that case
she will procure me a ticket, and for Monday also, when
the Bishop d' Autun is to report from the Committee on the
Constitution. I agree to both propositions. She has con
veyed to Montesquioti an expression of mine, which by the
manner of relating is turned into an elegant compliment.
She says he was well pleased, and that if he is brought
into the ministry I may boldly visit him with the certainty
of a good reception ; that if he is Minister of the Marine
we may do valuable business, in which, as in other objects

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. l6l

where she may be useful, she is to participate. At noon
take her to the convent to visit her relt'gieuse, and am to call
for her again at four. In the mean time I go to see the
Marquis de la Billarderie, the brother of the Comte de
Flahaut, to tell him how turtle is to be dressed ; but we
fall on the subject of politics and the question about the
tortue is postponed ad inferendum. Going back to my
hotel I am delayed by militia, who are going, or have been,
to church to obtain a blessing on their banners. Later I
visit Madame de Chastellux, and excuse myself for not
drinking tea with her. She tells me that the Duke of
Orleans is plunging himself into debts and difficulties to
support the present faction's temper, and that the Duchess
will demand an appropriation of the revenue to her separ
ate use. The sum fixed on by her is half a million. Many
compliments from M. Lafayette ; he has not placed Ma
dame de Chastellux's protege, and she is extremely vexed.
This conduct, which flows from the same source with those
things which have brought him up, very naturally tends
to bring him down. After a drive with Madame de Flahaut
and two young ladies to the Bois de Boulogne, I go to
the opera, according to my promise, and arrive toward the
close of the piece at the loge of Madame Lavoisier. The
dancing after the opera is prodigiously fine. Vestris* and
Gardell, who are upon the stage together, are both won
derful ; Gardell is second only because Vestris is first.
Go to the arsenal and take tea with Madame Lavoisier en
attendant le retour de monsieur, who is at the Hotel de
Ville. Monsieur comes in and tells us of the obstination of
the bakers. This corporation threatens the municipality

* Vestris, an Italian dancer, had made his debut in Paris in 1748. He was
popularly styled the " God of dancing." His vanity was excessive, but
amusing, as is attested by the familiar anecdote that he was once heard to
observe, that Frederick, King of Prussia, Voltaire and himself were the only
great men of the century. He died in 1808.
II

l62 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. VII.

of Paris with a discontinuance of their occupation, unless
a confrere justly confined is released. Thus the new au
thority is already trampled on."

The question of the finances came on in the Assembly
on Saturday the 26th. A start at five in the morning and
a rapid drive to Versailles brought Morris to the door
of the Assembly at eight. "By this means," he says, "I
am still in time and get well seated immediately behind
my friend Madame de Flahaut. At ten the session is
opened ; some trifling matter of presents to the Assembly
called the gifts of patriotism, but more properly the sacri
fices to vanity ; after these a tedious verbal controversy on
the reduction of yesterday's minutes, much heat and noise
and impatience, by which means half an hour is employed
in what ought to have been settled in half a minute. The
Marquis de Montesquieu makes his report ; vast respect
for the Premier Ministre des Finances, and then sundry
details and combinations, which show that the committee
understand the business much better than the ministers.
At the close, however, of the report, there is a feebleness
which they are perhaps not fully aware of, or perhaps it
was unavoidable. They appeal to patriotism for aid, but
they should, in money matters, apply only to interest.
They should never acknowledge such want of resource as
to render the aid of patriotism necessary. After the re
port is read the Comte de Mirabeau objects to the consid
eration of it, and insists that they should immediately take
up M. Necker's proposition, in which he has a motion to
make. He is called to the tribune, and in a tone of fine
irony urges the adoption of the plan proposed by the
Premier Ministre from the blind confidence which the As
sembly have in him, and from that unbounded popularity
which he enjoys. 'These,' says he, ' in that dreadful situ
ation which he has exposed, and in the imminency of

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 163

danger which produces debate, urge, nay, command us to
adopt without examination what the minister has devised
for our relief. Let us agree to it literally {fextuellement\
and if it succeeds let him, as he ought, enjoy the glory of
it ; if it fails, which heaven forefend, we will then exercise
our talents in trying to discover if yet there remains any
means to save our country.' To my great astonishment
the representatives of this nation, who pique themselves
on being the modern Athenians, are ready to swallow this
proposition by acclamation. The President, Clermont-
Tonnerre, who perceives its tendency, throws into a differ
ent form the style of adoption. Mirabeau rises and very
adroitly parries the stroke by showing that this form is
not consistent with his view, which the Assembly seemed
willing to comply with ; that certainly a subject of such
magnitude should not be carried by acclamation without
having the specific form before them, and that if he were
to propose a form it would require at least a quarter of
an hour to consider it and prepare it. He is immediately
(by acclamation) ordered to redact his proposition, and
while he is about it the Bishop d'Autun retires. We re
mark it. My friend Madame de Flahaut acknowledges
that they are in league together. The world already sus
pects that union. During their absence there is a great
deal of noisy debate on various subjects, if indeed such
controversy can be dignified with the name of debate.
At length Mirabeau returns and brings his motion forward
in consistence with his original idea. The Assembly now
perceive the trap, and during the tumult Lally de Tollen-
dal proposes that the motion be sent to the Committee of
Finance to frame as an arret'e. Here again Mirabeau man
oeuvres to evade that coup, and while the house are hung
up in their judgment, or rather entangled from want of
judgment, d'Espresmenil makes a motion coincident with

1 64 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. VII.

that of Mirabeau in substance, though contrariant in form.
There is not sufficient confidence in him, and therefore
the proposition drops. But it would seem from hence
that he is in the faction with Mirabeau and Autun, or that
the same principle of hatred to Necker has operated a
coincidence of conduct on the present occasion. After
this, tumult and noise continue to reign. Mirabeau at
length, in another speech, openly declares his disapproba
tion of Necker's plan. It is moved to postpone the con
sideration of the subject at three o'clock, but that motion is
lost. At half-past three Madame de Flahaut goes away,
and at four I retire, extremely fatigued, in the belief that
Mirabeau's motion cannot possibly be adopted, and that
they will postpone at last the consideration. Go to Ma
dame de Tesse's. She is at the Assemblee. Madame de Tot
is so kind as to order some bread and wine for me ' en at
tendant le diner.' At length the Corntesse de Tesse arrives
at five. Madame de Stae'l is with her. I had nearly told
this last my opinion of Necker's plan before I knew her.
The Assembly are aux voix on the adoption ; the propo
sition not essentially different from that of Mirabeau, and
thus they are the dupes. He has urged, they say, a deci
sion with the eloquence of Demosthenes. While we are at
dinner the Comte de Tesse and some members arrive.
The adoption is carried hollow, at which Necker's friends
rejoice and Madame de Stae'l is in raptures. She is
pleased with the conduct of Mirabeau, which she says was
perhaps the only way of bringing such a wrong-headed
body to act rightly ; that the only thing they could do was
to comply with her father's wish, and that there can be no
doubt of the success of his plans. Bravo ! After dinner,
Madame de Tesse having told her that I am un homme
(T esprit, she singles me out and makes a talk; asks if I
have not written a book on the American Constitution.

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 165

' Non, Madame, j'ai fait mon devoir en assistant a la forma
tion de cette Constitution.' 'Mais, Monsieur, votre con
versation doit etre tres interessante, car je vous entends
citer de toute part.' ' Oh, Madame, je ne suis pas digne
de cet eloge ! ' How I lost my leg ? It was, unfortunately,
not in the military service of my country. 'Monsieur,
vous avez 1'air tres imposant,' and this is accompanied
with that look which, without being what Sir John Fal-
staff calls the 'leer of invitation' amounts to the same
thing. I answer affirmatively, and would have left the
matter there, but she tells me that M. de Chastellux often
spoke of me, etc. This leads us on ; but in the midst of
the chat arrive letters, one of which is from her lover (De
Narbonne), now with his regiment. It brings her to a lit
tle recollection, which a little time will, I think, again
banish, and, in all human probability, a few interviews
would stimulate her curiosity to the experiment of what
can be effected by the native of a new world who has left
one of his legs behind. But, malheureusement, this curios
ity cannot now be gratified, and therefore will, I presume,
perish. She enters into a conversation with Madame
de Tesse, who reproves most pointedly the approbation
she gave to Mirabeau, and the ladies become at length
animated to the utmost bounds of politeness. I return
to Paris much fatigued ; the day has been prodigiously
fine."

" To-day [September 27th] I read M. Necker's proposi
tions ; they are wretched, and I think he is certainly
ruined. See Madame de Flahaut, who tells me the plan of
the Bishop d'Autun respecting finance, which is in some
respects defective. She wishes me to have an interview
with him and the Marquis de Montesquiou, and will en
deavor to arrange it. Chatting with her upon various sub
jects we arrange a ministry and dispose of several per-

1 66 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. VII.

sons — Mirabeau to go to Constantinople, Lauzun to
London. I tell her that this last is wrong, as he does not
possess the needful talents ; but she says he must be sent
away because without talents he can influence in some
degree the proposed chief, and a good secretary will sup
ply the want in England. We converse a great deal about
the measures to be pursued, and this amiable woman
shows a precision and justness of thought very uncommon
indeed in either sex. After discussing many points,
' Enfin,' she says, ' mon ami, vous et moi nous gouverne-
rons la France.' It is an odd combination, but the king
dom is actually in much worse hands. This evening she
is to confer with the Queen's physician, and set him to
work to remove some of Her Majesty's prejudices. I tell
her that she may easily command the Queen, who is weak,
proud, but not ill-tempered, and, though lustful, yet not
much attached to her lovers, therefore a superior mind
would take that ascendency which the feeble always sub
mit to, though not always without reluctance." To this
Madame de Flahaut replies, " with an air of perfect confi
dence," that she would take care to keep the queen sup
plied with an alternating succession of gallants and
masses, and Morris comments : " It is impossible not to
approve of such a regime, and, I think, with a due propor
tion of the former medicine she must supplant the pre
sent physician."

Morris grew rather wearied of Lafayette's procrastin
ation in the matter of the memoir e respecting subsistence.
No attention had been paid to it ; but while Morris was
waiting for his answer, several other men in authority
applied to him for aid in supplying flour; ''indeed M.
Cretel," he says, "asks me if I would not furnish some
flour. I tell him that if Laville will appoint some person
to treat with me on that subject I will do anything in my

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. l6/

power, and that I think I can be useful, but that I will
not throw myself at their heads. I then tell Lafayette
that a vessel had been detained some days waiting for the
answer to the memoire ; that in a few days more I will
have nothing to do with the affair ; that some of the
persons of the committee have, I presume, been casting
about for the ways and means to make money out of the
present distress, and are easy as to consequences because
certain they shall not be victims ! "

1 68 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. VIII.

CHAPTER VIII.

The feast at Versailles. Consternation at Paris. Morris urges Lafayette
to attach himself to the king's party. Disturbance in Paris.
Church property discussed. Expedition to Versailles proposed in
the Palais Royal Gardens. Excited state of the people. Carriages
stopped in the streets. Agonizing night at Versailles. The royal
family brought to Paris. The heads of the Body-guard carried
through the streets. The royal family installed at the Tuileries. De
spatches opened by the mob. Clermont de Tonnerre. The Comte
de Narbonne and Madame de Stae'l. Dinner at Lafayette's. Conver
sation with Lafayette on the situation of France. Mirabeau. Madame
de Chastellux's salon. The Duchess of Orleans. The Bishop of
Autun reads a motion to be presented to the Assembly. A ministry
arranged.

ON Thursday, the first of October, the feast was pre
pared at Versailles for the Flanders Regiment.
This superb entertainment had been conceived in an un
fortunate moment by the court to bring the loyal regi
ments to feast together. The queen with all the ladies of
the court graced the scene by their presence in the boxes,
and increased the brilliant effect. Her Majesty descended
from her box, and with her son and husband, graceful and
tall, with a truly queen-like dignity, walked through the
ranks of soldiers. Excited by wine, by music, and by the
presence of their queen, they drank her health, cheered
her, dragged the tricolor cockade from their hats, trampled
it under foot, and donned the white cockade. Quickly
the news of the sumptuous banquet at Versailles reached
Paris. It spread like fire among the famishing crowds.
Aristocrats had trampled their colors under foot. They

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 169

had bread and to spare ; they feast while we starve. Let
us go to Versailles and demand bread. If we once have
the king, queen, and dauphin in the midst of us they will
be obliged to feed us. We will bring back with us the
Baker, Bakeress, and the Baker's Boy !

The first of October found Morris and M. de Corney
at work making estimates for Lafayette for the purchase
of provisions at reasonable rates to be served out to the
poor of Paris. Fresh pork which was selling at sixteen
sous per pound, they offered to transport to Paris and sell
at half the price. Next day : " I go to-day to Lafayette's
and ask a dinner," he says. " I find that even among his
military family, there are some who at least wish well to
the noblesse. After dinner I take him aside and tell him
some of my sentiments on his own situation ; that he
must immediately discipline his troops and make himself
obeyed ; that his nation is used to be governed and must
be governed. That if he expects to lead them by their
affection he will be the dupe. So far he accords ; but on
the subject of discipline his countenance shows the self-
accuser, for he has given the command to officers who
know nothing of their business. I mention to him the sub
ject of subsistence. He wishes me to appear before the
new committee on Monday, and that Mr. Short should also
be there, so as to give it the appearance of a diplomatic
affair. This is not overwise, but I desire him to write to
me what he wishes, and to write also to Short. We will
see how feebleness will manage in arduous circumstances.
I tell him the serious truth, that if the people of this me
tropolis want they will send their leaders to the devil at
once, and ask again their bread and their chains ; that
Paris is, in fact, the dupe of this business at any rate, be
cause her splendor is owing entirely to despotism, and
must be diminished by the adoption of a better govern-

I/O DIARY AND LETTERS OF [[CHAP. VIII.

ment. I then urge him, in the great division of parties,
to attach himself to that of the king, being the only one
which can predominate without danger to the people.
He is startled at this assertion. I proceed to demonstrate
it, but Mazzie comes in and with his usual self-possession
makes a third person in the conversation. Therefore I
quit it. Chat a little with Madame de Lafayette, who
receives me much better than she used to do. I know
not why, but perhaps I have contracted more of that
tournure to which she has been habituated. I go to the
club. De Noailles tells us that Necker's proposition as
modified will take. Kersau says that letters from the
provinces assure the same thing. I am, however, still
incredulous. Laborde gives us the fourth of his income
(400,000 f.), and the Due d'Orleans 600,000. I ask Kersau
who is the fittest man in this kingdom for military Minis
ter of the Marine. He tells me it is Marignan, his brother-
in-law, or himself. Mirabeau's address to the nation on
the subject of the new imposition is said to be superb.
Those who contribute their fourth are to receive an in
terest of four per cent., and the contribution is to be paid
in three years. Those who have less than 400 per annum
are not to pay but at their pleasure."

" Much disturbance in Paris," is chronicled by the diary,
October 4th. " The foolish story of the cockades at Ver
sailles and the serious suffering for the want of bread have
collected from eight to ten thousand wretches, who go to
the Hotel de Ville. How it will end I know not, but this
is certain, that unless they contrive to obtain food for the
people they will be constantly embroiled. Bailly, the
mayor, is, they say, inept and wishes to resign. They
talk of Mirabeau as a successor. Thus every country has
its John Wilkes. It is no common combination, that of a
heart to devise, a head to plan, and a hand to execute.

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. I? I

Dine with Madame de Flahaut and the Bishop d'Autun
at the Louvre. She is taken ill at dinner. We converse
about the public affairs, and she tells us that if he is min
ister we must make a million for her. He has many just
ideas on the subject of finance, but a defect which he is
not aware of. To correct it I tell him that he must get
men about him who understand work and who love work.
Mention De Corney as the kind of man who would suit
him, and observe that there are very few of the kind in
this country, to which he heartily agrees, but is not willing
to acknowledge that he does not love work himself. He
says the present ministry will last forever ; that is, longer
than he wishes ; but Necker's health and the difficulties he
is already plunged in seem to me to augur differently.
We cannot even sketch the outlines of a future plan dis
tinctly, but in general we agree as to what ought to be
done. On the subject of the church property, I urge that
it should be obtained by consent of the Clergy, and only
mortgaged at first, but sold afterwards by degrees so as to
obtain the full value. State this as security for the prin
cipal, and the dimes [tithes] as security for the interest, of a
loan which is to be subscribed instantly by means of for
eign aid ; and then, instead of insisting on the right to
repay to the owners of the rentes viaglres their capital ad
vanced (which is his idea), to invite them to a change, by
giving the principal which the rente is worth, calculated
at an interest of five per cent — that principal reimbursa
ble, and bearing an interest of six per cent.; then begin
to pay the principal with money obtained at four per cent.,
and force all the public creditors who will not take four
per cent, to accept their capital. This scheme is not only
practicable but easy. Urge the propriety of obliging the
Caisse d'Escompte to settle their accounts before any fur
ther extension is given their establishment, and that in

1/2 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. VIII.

future the management should be part by commissioners,
to prevent the present mischief ; which is, that the minis
ters who are in the administration make use of it merely
as the means to support circulation, by which they raise a
fictitious capital and gamble at the risk of the community.
This idea he approves of, but does riot relish my further
idea of having subordinate banks in the great cities. I
did not sufficiently explain it, but I have a general idea
which might, I think, be executed with great advantage in
this country. If opportunity offers for execution I will
detail it, but for the present I must think of other affairs."
In the Palais Royal this Sunday (October 4th), possibly
for the first, certainly not for the last time, a woman used
her voice to extinction proposing the expedition to Ver
sailles and denouncing the " plaster-of- Paris bread, sacri
legious opera dinners, green uniforms, and black cock
ades." Danton " roared " his denunciations, and Marat,
equally condemnatory, made "as much noise as the four
trumpets on the Day of Judgment." Acts of violence and
cries of " A bas ! " were the result of seeing the black cock
ades, which men ruthlessly dragged off and crushed under
foot. So passed Sunday. Monday morning, " the town
is in alarm," Morris says. " I go towards Chaillot to see
what is doing, but am stopped at the Pont Royal. Go
into the Tuileries. A host of women are gone towards
Versailles with some cannon. A strange manoeuvre !
Walk up to Mr. Short's ; he is just going to dine. We re
turn together to the Place Louis Quinze. This tumult is the
continuation of last night ; a wild, mad enterprise. Go to
the arsenal. Admitted with difficulty. They are at din
ner. Madame Lavoisier is detained in town, as all car
riages were stopped and the ladies obliged to join the
female mob. While we si: at table, we learn that the mi
litia and the Regiment National are marching towards

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 1/3

Versailles. Return home and dress. At eight o'clock go
to the Louvre to take Madame de Flahaut to sup with
Madame Capellis. Capellis is with her. He says the
Regiment de Flandre, the Milice de Versailles, and the
Garde du Corps are determined to give the Parisians a
warm reception. Lafayette has marched by compulsion,
guarded by his own troops, who suspect and threaten him.
Dreadful situation ! Obliged to do what he abhors, or suf
fer an ignominious death, with the certainty that the sac
rifice of his life will not prevent the mischief. I go to
supper. Much discourse about what is to happen at Ver
sailles, and we agree that our Parisians will be beaten and
we consider it as fortunate that they are gone. I venture
the assurance that from this day forward the French army
will return to its sovereign, presuming, always, that the
Regiment de Flandre will, as it is said, do its duty this
night. A gentleman here tells us an anecdote which
shows how well this nation is adapted to the enjoyment of
freedom. He walked near a knot of people collected to
gether, where an orator was haranguing. The substance
of his oration was : ' Messieurs, nous manquons du pain,
et voici la raison. II n'y a que trois jours que le Roi a
eu ce veto suspensif, et deja les aristocrats ont achete des
suspensions et envoye les grains hors du Royaume.' To
this sensible and profound discourse his audience gave a
hearty assent. * Ma foi, il a raison. Ce n'est que ca.' Oh
rare ! These are the modern Athenians — alone learned,
alone wise, alone polite, and the rest of mankind barba
rians ! I learn this evening that several of the provinces
are become discontented at the acts of the Assembles
Nationale, but principally with the city of Paris. At
Madame de Flahaut's the company at supper was reduced
almost to a tete-a-tete. The guests all decline, from the
public confusion."

1/4 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. VIII.

At Versailles by eleven in the morning the Comte de
St. Priest knew of the approach of the mob, with its ad
vanced guard of seven or eight thousand women — women
in the guise of Amazons : the Queen of the Halles, dressed
in scarlet, with eyes flashing and hair flying ; and sad
women, with starving babies in their arms. It was a mob
with many unexpressed intentions, but with a fixed, unal
terable resolve to find bread. The king, strangely infat
uated, hunted that eventful day, and must be reminded of
his duty. And even in the face of approaching calamity
he found time to make an entry in his journal and to note
the forty-one birds killed, and to comment on the interrup
tion occasioned "par les evenements." The queen, while
taking a walk — the last she ever took — in the pretty gar
dens of Trianon, was called to a realization of " les evene
ments," to which she was more keenly alive than the king.

In the Assembly they squabbled over the king's response
relative to the Rights of Man, quite unmindful or ignorant
of the fact that men had come to settle the debated ques
tion in their own way. Through the wild gale and the
deluges of rain, the darkness adding to the general misery,
the mob came. The tocsin sounded, and mingled its
voice with that of the tired, wet, hungry mob in the
streets. In the chateau, the Comte de Luxembourg begged
the king for orders. "What orders?" asked Louis XVI.
"Against women ? You mock me."

Hasty preparations were making to take the royal fam
ily to Rambouillet, but the king refused to go, and the
queen refused to leave him. Fear and apprehension grew
insupportable as the night dragged slowly on. The queen
heeded nothing ; not even the cries of the Dauphin,
" Mamma, I am hungry," elicited any response. Sudden
ly, about four o'clock in the morning, the agony was in
creased, if possible, by blood-curdling proposals made con-

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 1/5

cerning the queen among the mob. Then the chateau
suddenly filled with armed men, who found access through
the door of the Cour de 1'Opera, which in the confusion
had been left open. They followed the passages which
led to the queen's chamber, where she, exhausted by the
confusion of the day, slept. Brave Miomandre de Sainte
Marie met the mob on the great staircase, and pleaded
with them to desist from their mad purpose, but unavail-
ingly ; on they went. Then he shouted to the guards, " Save
your queen ! " Rudely awakened, she rushed, scantily clad,
to the king's chamber by a secret passage, and for a mo
ment she found a refuge ; but the crowd demanded that
she should show herself, and with her children she ap
peared on the balcony. " No children," came the cry;
and she stood alone before them, heroic and queen-like.
The king must go to Paris, the crowd decreed ; and he
promised to go "on condition," he said, "that I shall not
be separated from my wife and family." At one o'clock
the melancholy procession set out — a hundred of the
deputies and the bulk of the Parisian army, the royal
family, and in the midst the heads of the two body-guards
murdered during the night, carried on poles. The day
was one of rare beauty. It was on such a day and in
such a manner that Versailles ceased to be the home of
kings.

"Tuesday morning, October 6th, Paris is all in tumult,"
Morris says. " Two heads of the gardes du corps are
brought to town, and the royal family, who are in posses
sion of the Regiment National, late Gardes Fra^ais,
are to come this afternoon. I go to see Madame de Fla-
haut. She \vants to visit at the Place Royal. We take
her fille de chambre along (to save appearances). The
gentleman, M. de St. Priest, is not at home, but is returned
from Versailles. On our return we find that among other

1/6 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. VIII.

visitors the Bishop has been there. Madame is alarmed ;
sends after him. She wants to know the news from Versail
les. Presently after, asks if she shall send for Capellis to
know the news of Paris. I agree. While at supper Capellis
comes in. The Bishop is not to be found. Capellis gives
a recital of what has passed. Many circumstances of in
sult to the royal personages. The Queen obliged to fly
from her bed in her shift and petticoat, with her stockings
in her hand, to the King's chamber for protection, being
pursued by the poissardes. At the Hotel de Ville M.
Bailly, in reading the King's speech, omitted in some part
the words ' avec confiance.' The Queen corrected him,
which produced a shout of, 'Vive la Reine!' They are to
lodge in the chambers fitted up in the Ttiileries (as slander
says) for her amours. These will now present her but bit
ter remembrances. Oh virtue ! thou art valuable, even in
this world. What an unfortunate prince ! the victim of
his weakness, and in the hands of those who are not to be
relied on even for pity. What a dreadful lesson it is for
man that an absolute prince cannot with safety be indul
gent. The troubles of this country are begun, but as to
the end, it is not easy to foresee it. The National Assem
bly is to come to Paris, and it is supposed that the inhabi
tants of the Louvre will be deniches. Madame de Flahaut
declares she willgo off on Monday. I am very heartily tired
of myself and everything about me, and return home, with
the one consolation that, being very sleepy, I shall in that
sweet oblivion lose a thousand disagreeable thoughts.
This day has been rainy and windy, and I believe (at sea) a
high gale if not a storm. Man turbulent, like the elements,
disorders the moral world, but it is action which supports
life."

"The King forbade all resistance, Madame de Flahaut
hears [October yth] from Versailles, and the Queen, on re-

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 1/7

tiring to her own chamber, told her attendants that, as the
King was determined to go to Paris, she must accompany
him, but she should never leave it. Poor lady, this is a
sad presage of what is too likely. The King ate a very
hearty supper last night. Who will say that he wants
fortitude? At the club there is a good deal of random
conversation about public affairs. Most men begin to per
ceive that things are not in the best train. There are
still, however, a number of the enrages who are well pleased.
If my calculations are not very erroneous, the Assemblee
Nationale will soon feel the effects of their new position.
There can be no question of the freedom of debate in a
place so remarkable for order and decency as the city of
Paris. I told O'Connel that they must give discharges to
all the soldiers who asked them, if they want to have an
obedient army, and recruit next winter when they are hun
gry and cold, because misery will make them obedient. I
think he will circulate this idea as his own, because he has
a good dose of what is called by different names, but in a
soldier is the love of glory. A curious incident has hap
pened this day. The district of St. Roch have opened the
despatches to the ministers and read them to the black
guards, to see if they contained anything against the na
tion."

M. Le Coulteux, on the 8th of October, again suggested
that Morris should have an interview with M. Necker,
and propose to him the purchase of flour and wheat. " I
receive the proposition very coldly," says the former, "and
tell him that I am going to England, being heartily out of
humor with everything in France. Later I proceed to M.
de Lafayette's. He is surrounded. In conference with
Clermont de Tonnerre, Madame de Lafayette, M. de Stael,
and M. de Semien his friend, are en comit^ in the salon.
This is all petit. I take a few minutes to tell Lafayette

12

1/8 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. VIII.

what appears necessary as to a change of administration.
He has spoken to Mirabeau already. I regret it ; he
thinks of taking one minister from each party. I tell him
that he must have men of talents and firmness, and for the
rest it is no matter. Am to dine with him to-morrow and
converse on this matter. Visit Madame de Flahaut. M.
Aubert is there, and before he goes Mr. O'Connel arrives.
He stays till nine o'clock. I then tell her that I want to see
her Bishop, and that he pledge himself to support Lafay
ette ; wait for his arrival, but as he does not come in, and
M. St. Priest and his daughter arrive, I go away. At M.
Le Coulteux's Cantaleu tells me of what has passed with
Necker. They see their way to a supply till March next,
but then they must have aid. In conversing with him
on the means, he proposed an interview with me, and
mentioned that I wished to see him on the subject of the
debt from America. Necker immediately observed that
perhaps I would take the debt in payment of supplies.
Thus we stand. I am to see him between five and six on
Saturday afternoon. Lafayette is to desire him to speak
to me on the subject this evening. Nous verrons. At eleven
I receive a note from Madame de Flahaut. The Bishop
is just arrived and wishes to see me. I go to the Louvre.
Capellis is there. Madame takes the Bishop and me out,
which surprises Capellis not a little. We converse pretty
fully on the arrangement of a ministry. The getting- rid
of Necker is a sine qud non with the Bishop, who wants his
place. Indeed, I am of the same opinion. He gives me
every assurance I can wish respecting Lafayette. After
arranging the new ministry, we come to finance: the
means of restoring credit, etc. Consider his plan respect
ing the property of the church. He is bigoted to it ; and
the thing is well, but the mode not so well. He is attached
to this as an author, which is not a good symptom for a

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS.

man of business. However, our friend insists with him
so earnestly that she makes him give up one point. She
has infinite good sense. After the Bishop d'Autun leaves,
Count Louis de Narbonne, Madame de StaeTs lover,
comes in ; a lively scene of raillery between them, upon
an affair of the Bishop d'Autun's with Madame de Stael.
It seems that he and the Bishop are intimate friends. Fie
at bottom is much hurt at the conduct of his friend, and
very gayly proposes to her a pleasant vengeance. Asks
for dinner. She desires me to stay longer, but my hour is
come, and therefore we must postpone reflections till this
afternoon. Leave her and go to see De Corney. He
shows me his letter to the King on the subject of subsist
ence. I approve of it, for he has delivered it this morn
ing. His wife, I find, is acquainted with the whole affair.
This is the woman's country. Go to Lafayette's. A large
company to dine. After dinner go into his cabinet and
talk to him about a new ministry of more ability than the
present. Mention the Bishop of Autun for the Finances.
He says he is a bad man and false. I controvert the
proposition, upon the ground already given to me. I tell
him that with the Bishop he gets Mirabeau. He is sur
prised at this, and assures me they are enemies. I tell him
that he is mistaken, and as my information is the best, he
is thrown into the style of a man greatly deceived. I tell
him the idea of the Bishop, that the King should immedi-
atelv have given him (Lafayette) a blue riband. This
goes farther towards convincing him that he is an honest
man than many good actions. Montesquieu as Minister
at War might do. He does not much like him, but he is
the friend of M. de Montmorin. Propose Touret for Garde
des Sceaux. He owns that he has talent, but questions as
to his force of mind. I ask him what he intends to do
with Clermont-Tonnerre. He says he is not a man of

1 80 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. VIII.

great abilities. I add that he is a man of duplicity (faux).
He agrees that he is ; therefore no difficulty with respect
to him. I tell him that the coalition I propose will drive
Necker away by the very populace which now support
him. Necker is already frightened, and sick of the busi
ness he is engaged in. The Due de la Rochefoucault comes
in. He tells us that the Assembly are to come to Paris,
and that the motion of the Bishop respecting the prop
erty of the church is postponed till to-morrow, when he
expects to have the clergy with him. I am to see Lafay
ette again on Sunday morning at nine. I cannot dine
with him to-morrow ; besides, it is nonsense to meet at
dinner in a crowd. Ternant and I have a little conversa
tion. He tells me he is sure of his regiment, and can
bring with him six hundred chasseurs from the skirts of
the Bois de Boulogne. I ask him if I shall name him as
one who can be relied on to a person of my acquaintance.
He desires that his name may not be used, unless in the
houses where he visits ; but that I may say I know an
officer who can be relied on, etc., without naming him. Go
to Madame de Flahaut's. Madame de Corney is with her.
After she is gone she asks the result of our conversation
at Lafayette's. I give the amount in few words. She
tells me that Louis de Narbonne, who, with infinite wit, is
'un assez mauvais sujet,' will be the enemy of the Bishop
on account of the amour. I am tired and vexed ; there
fore come home, take tea, and go early to bed. This has
been a rainy, disagreeable day."

" I am to meet the Bishop at Madame de Flahaut's this
evening," says the entry for October loth. " I see M. Le
Coulteux this morning, and confer about the debt to
France. In speaking about the mode in which we are
to treat with M. Necker, I mention my determination to
act very openly, etc. Laurent le Coulteux wants to higgle,

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. l8l

and as I treat this mode of dealing with contempt, we
have a pretty smart conversation ; in the course of it he
discovers how much he is hurt by my indifference. I pur
sue, however, my straightforward line, and Cantaleu agrees
with me in sentiment. We have soon some more company,
and go to dinner. His attentions and those of Madame
are marked. At five call on Cantaleu, and we visit M.
Necker. Madame asks us to dine next Tuesday. We go
to the cabinet of monsieur, and after some chat proceed
to the consideration of the debt of the United States to
France. I tell him the whole truth with respect to it, and
assure him that I will not engage in a purchase with
out such a view to profit as will save me from all risk,
and that he must make a sacrifice. Cantaleu reads the
note I gave to the Marechal de Castries, and we finally
come to consider between sixteen and twenty millions.
He proposes the latter sum, and on Tuesday we are to
talk farther about it. Visit Madame de Flahaut, who
leaves me reading " La Pucelle " and goes out in my
carriage. She returns after a short visit. Stay till near
eleven, but the Bishop does not appear, so I quit the
field."

"I go this morning [October nth] to keep my appoint
ment with Lafayette. He keeps me waiting a very long
time. Find that he wishes to avoid coming to any points as
to a new administration, therefore carelessly ask him if he
has thought on the subject of our last conversation. This
letids us on. I state to him the present situation of France,
and the necessity of combining men of talents who have
principles favorable to liberty ; that without talents the
opportunity of regaining executive authority will be lost,
and that without the proper principles the authority when
recovered will be abused ; that he cannot possibly act
both as minister and soldier — still less as minister of

1 82 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. VIII.

every department ; that he must have coadjutors in whom
he can confide ; that as to the objections he has made on
the score of morals in some, he must consider that men do
not go into administration as the direct road to Heaven ;
that they are prompted by ambition or avarice, and there
fore that the only way to secure the most virtuous is by
making it their interest to act rightly. He tells me that
he means to introduce Malesherbes as Garde des Sceaux,
and to the objection that he will not be induced to accept,
the reply is, that he will accept from M. de Lafayette. I
have a stronger objection, which I do not choose to make ;
viz., that he is not sufficiently a man of business, although
certainly well informed and possessed of a great deal of
understanding. He mentions Rochefoucault as Minister
of Paris, and to the objection that he has not the needful
talents, he answers that he will give him a premier commis
who has. The Minister of War is in the same situation,
but they cannot carry the commis into the council to delib
erate and judge. He will himself be in council, and will
take care to manage everything there. Unluckily he does
not reflect that he himself wants both talents and informa
tion. He again mentions that he will have Mirabeau, to
which I reply that a man so profligate will disgrace any
administration, and that one who has so little principle
ought not to be trusted. I do not, as I might, retort on
the subject of morality. I know pretty well the man I am
speaking to, and therefore can estimate his reasons. He
is very desirous to get rid of me, and I take my leave. I
am vexed to find that by littleness the little are to be
placed where greatness alone can fill the seat. He keeps
Necker, whose talents he despises, because Necker is hon
est and he can trust him, as if it were possible to trust a
timid man in arduous circumstances. Visit Madame de
Flahaut. She is with her physician, but Deceives me a lit-

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 183

tie after one, and begs me to dine tete-a-tete with her.
The Queen is coming round. This morning the King's
dentist fell dead at his feet. The poor King exclaimed
that he was devoted to experience every kind of misfort
une. He had, however, presence of mind enough to de
sire Vicq d'Azyr, the physician, to go and break the matter
gently to the Queen, who was not well and might suffer
from such a shock. She is highly pleased with the Bish
op's motion. Visit Madame de Chastellux. She is in
bed and, I think, very ill ; a dreadful cough, which must
terminate fatally if not soon relieved. The Duchess
comes in, and makes some kind reproaches for not visiting
at Raincy. Return home, write and dress, and then go
to club. Stay but a few minutes. Go to Madame de
Flahaut's. She is abroad ; I wait her return, which is not
until after three. She tells me that she has repeated to
the Bishop my conversation with Lafayette, of which, by
the bye, I told only such parts as could by no means con
vey his intentions, although they were not communicated
to me in express confidence. Mirabeau is to have an in
terview this evening with the King (private, and unknown
to anybody but ourselves).

" I leave her and visit at M. de Montmorin's. M. de la
Luzerne is there. Both very glad to see me, and as they
have been at a conversation duly serious, I animate it with
a gayety which produces very good effect. It is a pity that
these people have not the needful abilities ; however, I
have labored to keep Montmorin in place, and I think it
possible still to succeed. He is very honest, and his situa
tion with Florida Blanca * renders him a desirable mem-

* Count Florida Blanca, a Spanish statesman, and prime minister in 1777.
He made great efforts to recover Gibraltar, in which attempt, however, his
plans were frustrated — but the Spanish captured Florida, Minorca, the
Bahamas, and a fleet of fifty-five merchant-vessels.

\

1 84 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. VIII.

ber of the ministry, because, so long as these two con
tinue in office, they may count upon Spain with certainty.
From hence go to Madame de Chastellux's. The Duchess
is there, and Mr. Short. A light, pleasant conversation ;
among other things, her picture at the salon, which Mr.
Short thinks is perfect. I tell her Royal Highness :
' Madame, ce portrait-Id n'a qu'un defaut d mes yeux.' ' Et
qu'est-ce done, ce defaut?' 'C'est qu'il ne m'appartient
pas, Madame.' The Due de Penthievre is in town, and
Madame de Chastellux tells me she is sure I should like
him. ' II passe sa vie a bien faire. Oui (pointing to the
Duchess), elle est bien faite,' etc. The Comtesse de Segur
comes in, and afterwards the Chevalier de Bouflers ;* then
the Abbe St. Phar. Madame de Segur asks my opinion
of the affairs. Talk to her sensible observations, but I
cannot go farther. She gives me her information, that
the Due de la Rochefoucault is to be brought into the
ministry. At half-past nine go to the Louvre to supper.
Madame de Rully had come in before I left. She gave
us some anecdotes, and also the state of Corsica, where
her husband now is with his regiment. At Madame de
Flahaut's we have Colonel O'Connel and Madame La-
borde his friend, with her husband. After dinner the
Bishop comes in, and the rest go away. I tell him what
has passed with Lafayette, as far as is proper, and my
future intention, which is to tell him that, having done my
duty to him and to his country, I quit the matter and leave
him to the course of events. I urge an union with those
who are to form the new ministry, and that they avow
themselves to the people as candidates and let the Court
know that they will come in together or not at all. He
thinks this right, and also that the present circumstances

* Marquis Stanislas de Bouflers, a mediocre French writer.

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 185

have sufficient force to consume another administration
before things are entirely fixed. He reads us his motion ;
it is well done. Afterwards we talk about the best ways
and means to effect the intended objects, and I give him a
few hints on general principles tending to the wealth and
happiness of a nation and founded on the sentiments of
the human heart. He is struck with them, as men of real
talents always are with the disclosure of real truth, and
this, by the bye, forms a principal charm of conversation.
Oh, it is dreadfully tiresome to explain down to the first
principles for one of those half-way minds which see just
far enough to bewilder themselves. Leave the Bishop
with Madame."

" Monday [October i2th], I visit Madame de Flahaut by
appointment. She shows me a letter to the Bishop, which
is perfect. A deep knowledge of human character, an
acquaintance with the world which arises from reflection
on the hearts of those who live in it, and the most just
conclusions of the regulation of his conduct, enforced by
the tenderness of female friendship — all this join to render
a hasty production perfect. I thought well of myself, but
I submit frankly to a superiority which I feel. She told
me some days ago, after seeing Mr. Jefferson's counte
nance, ' Get homme est faux et emporteV The arrange
ment talked of at present for an administration is to
make Necker Premier, the Bishop d'Autun Minister of Fi
nance, and Liancourt Minister of War. Mirabeau (who
had yesterday four hours' conversation, not with the King
but with Monsieur, and who is to see the King this day)
wishes to be in the ministry ; an embassy will no longer
content him. I leave her and go to Madame de Chastel-
lux's. At about eight the Duchess comes in with the
Vicomte de Segur. About fifty members of the Assem-
blee Nationale, it is said, have retired ; among them De

1 86 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. VIII.

Mounier * and Lally-Tollendal.f This will excite some sen
sation, if it be true. Go thence to Madame de Laborde's,
and sup. After supper make tea for them."

* Mounier was a man of strong judgment and inflexible character, who
considered the system of the English constitution as the type of representative
government and wished to effect the revolution by accommodation.

t Marquis de Lally-Tollendal, a deputy from the noblesse to the States-
General in 1789, was one of the minority of his order who united with the
Tiers Etat and favored reform. He emigrated to England in 1792.

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 1 87

CHAPTER IX.

Deputies demand passports. The streets alive with disorderly characters.
Houses marked for destruction. Unsafe to walk about Paris. Necker
sombre and depressed. Madame de StaePs salon. The Duke of Or
leans leaves for England. Morris calls on Necker, and suggests the
idea of raising the price of bread. Letter to Lafayette. The Duke
of Orleans is stopped at Boulogne. News of insurrections. Conver
sation in Madame de Flahaut's salon about intended changes in the
ministry. Lafayette commits a blunder in offering himself to Mira-
beau. The Cardinal de Rohan. Flour to be imported from America.
Graphic letter to Robert Morris. Madame de Flahaut disconsolate over
the reduction in pensions.

T)EFORE many weeks had passed, three hundred depu-
JD ties demanded passports. An indisposition attacked
them, which Louis Blanc calls the "maladie de la con-
tre-revolution avortee." Among the two parties which
formed the counter-revolutionists, there were differences
of action. The one endeavored to shun events, the other
strove to ferment new agitations. The streets were alive
with women of no character, dressed as for the masquer
ade, who entered houses and demanded money. Later,
houses marked for more or less destructive purposes were
everywhere to be seen. Red indicated fire, white signified
pillage only, but the black mark proclaimed the house
doomed, and its inmates subjects for death. Malet-du-
Pin * wrote to some one that moderation had become a
crime, and Mirabeau told the Comte de la Marck that, " given

* Malet-du-Pin was said to be the sole newspaper man in Paris during the
Revolution who, without insult or flattery, gave correct analyses of the de
bates.

1 88 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. IX.

up to itself, Paris in three months will probably be a hos
pital, and certainly a theatre of horrors." Honest women
were no safer than courtesans from arrest and insult, and
hardly dared to cross their own door-sills. Loustolot
wrote that there was not a citizen in Paris who dared to
say, " To-night I shall sup with my children."

During these days, Morris employed himself with the
necessary calculations and estimates for the purchase of
the debt to France, preparatory to an interview with M.
Necker. "I go this evening" [October i3th], says the
diary, " with M. Le Coulteux to dine with M. Necker.
He is sombre and triste, and so engrossed by the affairs of
subsistence that I cannot speak to him upon the other sub
ject. At dinner Madame de Stael seats herself next to me,
and repeats part of the conversation of the other day at
Madame de Flahaut's. The Count Louis de Narbonne has
told it to her. I apologize for my share in it, and add
that I had rather say twice as much to her face. My
apology, which is the reverse of an excuse, is accepted, and
she asks why I do not come to see her. ' II y a longtemps,
madame, que je desire avoir cet honneur-la ! ' Some civil
things are said on both sides, and I am to visit this even
ing."

Quite the first salon of Paris at this time was that over
which Madame de Stael presided. Her regular Tuesday
evening supper, when not more than a dozen or fifteen
covers were laid and her chosen friends were admitted
into the little salon, the " chambre ardente," was the great
feature of the week. Here, the candles extinguished to
heighten the effect, the Abbe Delille declaimed his " Cata
combs de Rome," and here Clermont-Tonnerre submitted
to the criticism of his friends his discourse before deliver
ing it in public. Near the chimney Necker stood, en
tertaining the Bishop of Autun, who smiled but avoided

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 189

talking. Here was to be found the Duchesse de Lauzun,
of all women the most gentle and timid ; and in the midst
stood the hostess, in her favorite attitude before the fire,
with her hands behind her back, a large, leonine woman,
with few beauties and no grace of gesture. She neverthe
less animated the salon by her masculine attitude and pow
erful conversation. When Morris entered the charmed
circle on this particular Tuesday, he found, he says, " De
Narbonne, who is of course with Madame de Stael this
evening. M. de Montmorin is also there, with his daughter,
and a madame de Coigny, said to have beaucoup d'esprit.
I feel very stupid in this group, which by degrees goes off
and leaves madame, three gentlemen, and myself. As soon
as supper appears I make my exit, promising her to come
again. Much anxiety is felt about the situation of public
affairs. Le Coulteux owned to me this afternoon that he
has no hopes of a constitution but from the hand of the
King."

" This morning [October i4th] General Dalrymple *
spends two hours with me. Tell him he must introduce
me to the King's banker, who, he says, is very rich.
Tell him that I desire such an introduction because
I think I shall possess information as to things in this
country from which money may be made. He asks im
mediately if I would advise speculations in their funds at
present, to which I reply in the negative. He tells me
that the Duke of Orleans is off for England ; he wants to
know my opinion as to his journey. I am surprised at
this, but conclude that some transactions of his Royal
Highness have been discovered which would involve dis
agreeable consequences, and that the King has desired
him to go off by way of avoiding inquiry. It is said that he

* General Sir Howe Whiteford Dalrymple, a British general, fought in sev
eral campaigns in the war against France.

DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. IX.

has gone on business of a public nature, but this, I think,
must be an excuse, because no man in France is more per
sonally disagreeable to the King of England. Go to dine
at Madame de Flahaut's. She receives a note from the
Bishop d'Autun. He is to be with her at half-past five.
She insists that I shall leave her at five. I put on a de
cent share of coldness. Go to the club and inquire a little
about the departure of the Duke of Orleans, who certainly
is sent by the King in a diplomatic capacity, but there
must be some reason not diplomatic. Go from thence to
General Dalrymple's, where two gentlemen of this coun
try are drinking hard. A lady of a certain sort is at the
table. Later I see Madame de Flahaut ; she tells me that
the Bishop will not accept of the Finances under Necker.
She is leaving soon, and we are to dine a trio with the
Bishop at four to-morrow."

" To-day at four [October i5th] T go to the Louvre as
arranged. We wait till near five before the Bishop comes
from Versailles, and then sit down to an excellent dinner.
She engages us to sup at Madame de Laborde's.* I go
away and visit Madame de Segur, who begins a conversa
tion which is broken in upon by the arrival of two visit
ors. Go from thence to Madame de Corney's. She is in
bed and has a very disagreeable cough. Go to Madame
de Chastellux's : the Duchess is there, as usual ; also the
Vicomte de Segur. Some politics with him. Madame de
'Segur comes in late ; has been detained by her visitors.
Requests me to visit Lafayette and pray him not to go
into the Council. I decline, but at last, upon her urgency,
promise to write him a letter to-morrow. Go thence to the

* The most sumptuous table, perhaps, in Paris was that of M. de Laborde,
over which presided his wife, a sensible woman, who, wiser than many others
of the financial set, took with pleasure and graciously the advances of the
grandes dames, but withal maintained her dignity.

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 191

Louvre ; madame is dressing ; is much fatigued. The
Bishop arrives ; I tell him my intention of writing to La
fayette. He approves of it, and observes that he must be
preserved because he is useful. He tells me that he will
not accept of a place in the present administration, and I
approve of that determination. He is received with in
finite attention at Madame de Laborde's, which proves that
they expect he will be somebody. Madame de Flahaut's
countenance glows with satisfaction in looking at the
Bishop and myself as we sit together, agreeing in senti
ment and supporting the opinions of each other. What
triumph for a woman. I leave her to go home with him."
"To-day [October i6th] I call upon M. Necker and
mention to him the idea of raising the price of bread in
Paris by making the difference fall on those who employ
workmen ; so that, estimating it at two sous, the master
should be obliged, when bread is at four, to allow, say, two,
three, or four sous additional. Also start to him the idea
of asking the Assembly to appropriate a sum to the sup
ply of Paris. To the first he replies that there is no wheat
to be got, and he treats responsibility to the nation for
such use of public money with contempt. I tell him that
he must not count on supplies from England ; at this he
seems alarmed. I offer my services to obtain it from
America. He thanks me, but has already given his
orders, which I knew, or I should not have said so much.
He makes no mention of the debt, nor I either. Go from
thence to the club, and hear a little of the sentiment en
tertained, of the Duke of Orleans. His friends appear
chopfallen and defend him, which is absurd, for they
know not enough of the matter to make an able defence,
or, if they know, conceal that knowledge, which comes to
the same thing. Visit at Madame de Chastellux's. At
eight the Duchess comes in, and remarks to me upon her

IQ2 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. IX.

punctuality ; afterwards Madame de Segur, who tells me
that M. de Lafayette does not go into the Council, at least
for the present. After making tea, etc., I visit Madame
de Flahaut, who has just returned from the opera. The
Bishop comes in and I read my letter to Lafayette, she
translating, but Capellis comes in before it is finished and
stays till twelve, when we all take leave."

The letter referred to, after a careful revision by Ma
dame de Flahaut and the Bishop of Autun, Morris sent
to Lafayette on the iyth of October. It is as follows :

PARIS, October 16, 1789.
MY DEAR SIR :

I took the liberty, in some late conversation, to give my sentiments on
public affairs. I know the folly of offering opinions which bear the ap
pearance of advice, but a regard for you, and the sincerest wishes for the
prosperity of this kingdom, pushed me beyond the line which caution
would have drawn for one of less ardent temper. 1 do not wish you to
consider this as apology ; on the contrary, I desire you to recollect, both
now and hereafter, the substance of those conversations. In that progress
of events which rapidly advances, you will judge my judgment.

I am convinced that the proposed constitution cannot serve for the gov
ernment of this country ; that the National Assembly, late the object of
enthusiastic attachment, will soon be treated with disrespect ; that the
extreme licentiousness of your people will render it indispensable to in
crease the royal authority ; that under such circumstances the freedom
and happiness of France must depend on the wisdom, integrity, and firm
ness of His Majesty's councils, and, consequently, that the ablest and best
men should be added to the present administration ; that, so far as regards
yourself, you should take care that those who come in be sensible of the
obligation they owe you, disposed to repay it, and of a temper neither to
desert you nor their sovereign nor each other, in the moment of danger
or for the sake of advantage ; I consider the present time as critical, and
that if neglected, many irreparable mischiefs must ensue. Such are the
bodings of a mind not easily ruffled nor alarmed, but feelingly alive to the
interests of friendship and devotedly attached to the liberties of mankind.
Certainly, you have much better means of information than I have. Cer
tainly, you have that intimate knowledge of your own nation which it is
impossible for a stranger to acquire, and most certainly you have perfect

1789] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 193

acquaintance with the characters which stand forward for public observa
tion.

Let what I have said, therefore, go for nothing ; I have repeated it here
as being in some sort the needful introduction to what I am now to com
municate. Last evening, in company with some of your friends who sup
posed me to enjoy a share of your confidence, in which I assured them,
with great truth, that they were mistaken, I was urged to visit and entreat
you not to go into the Council. Knowing how much you are occupied and
how improper it is for me to interfere, I declined the visit, but was at
length prevailed on by earnest entreaty to promise that I would in a letter
assign the reasons which influence them : r. That your present command
must of necessity engross your time and require undissipated attention ;
and in consequence, that you must fail in the duty either of minister or
general. 2. That when in Council your opinions will not have more weight,
and perhaps less, than they have at present, because at present they are re
spected as coming from you, but will only be received in Council accord
ing to the reasons adduced in their support, and it is not always that the
wisest man is the most eloquent. 3. If your opinions do not prevail, you
will have the mortification to sanction by your presence the measures which
you disapprove, or quit in disgust the seat which you have taken. 4. If
your opinions prevail, you will then, in your quality of general, be called on
to execute what, in your quality of councillor, you had ordained. In this
situation the public opinion will revolt unless it be subdued. The one
will ruin you and the other your country. 5. The jealousy and suspicion
inseparable from tumultuous revolutions, and which have already been
maliciously pointed against you, will certainly follow all your future steps
if you appear to be too strictly connected with the Court. The founda
tions of your authority will then crumble away, and you fall, the object of
your own astonishment. 6. The retreat of the Duke of Orleans is attrib
uted to you, and if you go into the Council immediately after what is called
by some his flight, and by others his banishment, the two events will be
coupled in a manner particularly disadvantageous and disagreeable. 7.
If you go into the ministry with Mirabeau, or about the same time, every
honest Frenchman will ask himself the cause of what he will call a very
strange coalition. There are in the world men who are to be employed,
not trusted. Virtue must ever be sullied by an alliance with vice, and
liberty will blush at her introduction if led by a hand polluted. Lastly, I
am earnestly, most earnestly, requested by those who love you well to add
one caution as to your friends : Trust those who had that honor before
the 1 2th of July. New friends are zealous, they are ardent, they are at
tentive, but they are seldom true.

Excuse the liberty of an old one, who is, truly yours,

GOUVERNEUR MORRIS.

194 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. IX.

" Laurent Le Coulteux dines with me to-day [October
1 7th], and we enter into conversation about the shipment
of wheat and flour from America. I give him informa
tion, and tell him if he chooses to take an interest in such
business he may have it. My indifference makes him de
sirous of it. He proposes a concern in thirds, to which I
assent, and desire him to prepare his letters and send them
to me. We then speak of the tobacco business. He is
very unwilling to give the credit I require, hesitates, and
tries to evade it. Luckily my carriage arrives, and I tell
him that a pressing engagement obliges me to leave him.
Drive to the Louvre and take Madame de Flahaut to the
convent to visit her religieuse, Maman Trent, who is as
much of this world as one devoted to the other can be.
The old lady admires her looks, and will not believe that
she has been indisposed. We return again ; I leave her
to receive the Bishop. She drops an expression, for the
first time, respecting him which is cousin-german to con
tempt. I may, if I please, wean her from all regard to
wards him. But he is the father of her child, and it would
be unjust. The secret is that he wants the fortiter in re,
though he abounds with the suaviter in modo, and this last
will not do alone. Visit Madame de Chastellux ; the
Duchess is there, the Marechal and Vicomte de Segur ;
make tea. A person comes in and tells the Duchess that
her husband is stopped at Boulogne. She is much af
fected ; we undertake to assure her that it cannot be —
though there is every reason to suppose that, in the pres
ent disordered state of the kingdom, he would not pass.
She is very solicitous to know the truth, and I go to M.
de Lafayette's to inquire it. He is not at home, or, rather,
if I may judge from appearances, he is not visible.
Thence to M. de Montmorin's, who is abroad. Return to
Madame de Chastellux's ; the poor Duchess is penetrated

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 195

with gratitude for this slight attempt to serve her. It is
very hard that a heart so good should be doomed to suffer
so much. Take leave ; she follows me out to express
again her thankfulness. Poor lady ! Go to Madame de
StaeTs ; a pretty numerous company ; a great deal of vi
vacity, which I do not enter into sufficiently. She asks
me, while I sit next to Narbonne, if I continue to think she
has a preference for M. de Tonnerre. I reply only by ob
serving that they have each of them wit enough for one
couple, and therefore I think they had better separate
and take each a partner who is un peu bete. I do not enter
enough into the ton of this society. After supper some
gentlemen come in, who tell us that there is a riot in the
Faubourg St. Antoine. We have had a great deal of news
this evening ; a number of insurrections in different
places. It is affirmed by madame, on good authority,
that the Duke is stopped. Go from thence to the club,
where we learn that the supposed riot is a false alarm.
But my servant tells me that they expect one to-morrow,
and have ordered out a large body of troops at eight
o'clock in the morning. The grenadiers of the late
French guards insist on keeping possession of the
King's person. This is natural. It has been a fine day
— something like what we call in America the second
summer."

"At the club [October i8th] M. , who is one of

the entours of M. de Lafayette, tells me that the friends
of the Duke of Orleans will (it is apprehended) denounce
him tp the Assemblee Nationale, so as to oblige him to
return, they expecting that his popularity in Paris will
make him triumph over his enemies. He wishes me to
go and dine with Lafayette, but this cannot be ; besides I
will not again trouble him with advice unless he asks it,
and perhaps not then. At three visit Madame de Flahaut

196 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. IX.

The Bishop is with her. Converse about the intended
changes in administration. I insist that Mirabeau be not
brought into the Council, that they are mistaken in sup
posing he can after that elevation preserve his influence
in the Assembly ; that introducing a man of such bad
character will injure them in public opinion, and that
everything depends in the present moment upon the pres
ervation of that opinion. The Bishop tells me that in
his opinion no administration can work well in which M.
Necker has a share. After he is gone Madame tells me
that Lafayette is determined not to let Montesquieu into
the war department. This Mirabeau told the Bishop, and
Montesquieu told her that Necker declares the calcula
tions in the Bishop's motion are pitiful. This accounts
for his opinion delivered to me. Lafayette has committed
a great blunder in opening himself to Mirabeau. If he
employs him it will be disgraceful, and if he neglects him
it will be dangerous, because every conversation gives
him rights and means. She tells me that the Bishop has
invited himself to dine with her every day. We laugh
and chat. I go to General Dalrymple's to dinner. The
General says he is well informed that the Due d'Orleans
was on his knees to entreat pardon of the King. De
spatches are sent off to urge his dismission from his
keepers at Boulogne. The conversation is turned by de
grees to American aifairs, and I tell them (which is true)
that they have committed an error in not sending a minis
ter to America. They are vastly desirous of convincing
me that an alliance with Britain would be for our inter
est, and I swallow all their arguments and observations
in such a way as to induce the belief that I am convinced,
or at least in the way of conviction. The young man
thinks he has done wonders. From thence I go to the
Louvre, though I had determined not. The Cardinal de

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 197

Rohan * is with Madame. We talk among other things
about religion, for the Cardinal is very devout. He was
once the lover of Madame's sister, and much beloved. He
says the King is not the fool he is supposed to be, and
gives instances to prove it ; but the Cardinal is not the
man of sense he was supposed to be, and therefore his
evidence is not to be taken blindly. Shortly after the
Cardinal goes, M. de St. Venau comes in and I take my
leave."

After much discussion and trouble, Morris and M. Le
Coulteux finally agreed to import 30,000 barrels of flour
from America as soon as possible — "having," as Mor
ris says, "in contemplation the relief of those wants
which I foresee will take place here the ensuing spring."
"I am persuaded," he wrote at this time, in a very graphic
letter to Robert Morris, "for my own part, that this gov
ernment must feel secure in the article of subsistence be
fore they take the measures needful for the order which
is indispensable. Everything now is as it were out of
joint. The army without discipline or obedience. The
civil magistracy annihilated. The finances deplorable.
They have no fixed system to get through the difficulties,
but live upon expedients, and are at the mercy of projec
tors. A country so situated may starve in one province
while another suffers from its abundance. There is no
order anywhere. I have only once attended the delibera
tions of the National Assembly since September. Indeed
that once has fully satisfied my curiosity. It is impos
sible to imagine a more disorderly Assembly. They
neither reason, examine, nor discuss. They clap those
whom they approve and hiss those whom they disap
prove. But if I attempted a description I should never

* Cardinal de Rohan, so famous for his complicity in the affair of the dia
mond necklace.

198 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. IX.

have done. That day I dined in company with the Pres
ident, and told him frankly that it was impossible for such
a mob to govern this country. They have unhinged ev
erything. The executive authority is reduced to a name.
Everything almost is elective, and consequently no one
obeys. It is an anarchy beyond conception, and they will
be obliged to take back their chains for some time to come
at least. And so much for that licentious spirit which
they dignify with the name of 'Love of Liberty.' Their
Literati, whose heads are turned by romantic notions
picked up in books, and who are too lofty to look down
upon that kind of man which really exists, and too wise
to heed the dictates of common-sense and experience,
have turned the heads of their countrymen, and they have
run-a-muck at a Don Quixote constitution such as you are
blessed with in Pennsylvania. I need say no more. You
will judge of the effects of such a constitution upon peo
ple supremely depraved."

"To-day [October ipth], I hear the purport of Cantaleu's
conversation with M. Necker about the debt of the United
States to France. This last demands a million louis, which
I think too much, and says that he cannot think of pre
senting to the public view a bargain in which he gets less
than twenty-four millions [francs]. This afternoon I drive
with Madame de Flahaut to the Bois de Boulogne, but we
are stopped for want of a passport at the barriere. We
make a short visit at the convent. Madame is in much grief
over the loss of her income. The reduction of her broth
er's affairs, who is superintendent of the King's building,
takes some of her support from her ; and 4,000 which was
due by the Comte d'Artois vanishes with his Royal High-
ness's person. Thus there remains but 12,000, and those
badly paid, being a rente viagere. With this little income
it is impossible to live in Paris. She must then abandon

1789.) GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 199

her friends, her hopes, everything. Shortly after we ar
rive at the Louvre M. de Montesquieu comes in, and dis
cusses the motion of the Bishop d'Autun. He disapproves
of the calculations. He is right in his observations, which
are precisely those which I made to the Bishop previous
to his motion. However, good may be drawn from the
business eventually. Leave them, promising to return.
Go to Madame de Chastellux's, and, as usual, make tea
for the Duchess. Nothing here but the usual chat. Ma
dame de Segur is here and Mr. Short. Return to the
Louvre. The Marechal de Segur tells us at Madame de
Chastellux's that Mirabeau was to be in the ministry.
Madame de Flahaut tells me that Montesquieu says he is
false to the Bishop, and is to go with Necker conjointly
into the finances. She is anxious to see the Bishop this
evening ; she is ill and apprehends a fever, but I restore
her considerably by the aid of a little soup."

200 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. X.

CHAPTER X.

Denis Frangois accused of secreting bread and beheaded. Paris aban
doned to cruelty and violence. Martial law passed by the Assembly.
The Duke of Orleans liberated. He goes to England.. At the club.
Chit-chat in Madame deFlahaut's salon. Belgrade surrenders. Anec
dote of the 5th of October. Clermont de Tonnerre proposes going
to America. Morris asked his plan for restoring order to France.
Necker unable to cope with the difficulties. Dinner at Madame
Necker's. Talk about Lafayette's connection with Mirabeau and
with Necker on plans for subsistence. News from Flanders. Asked
to take part in the administration of affairs. Dines with the Duchess
of Orleans. Takes the Bishop of Autun to visit Lafayette. The
Assembly suspends the parlements. Criticisms on the society in Ma
dame de Stael's salon. Lively dinner conversation with Madame de
Stael.

IT was on Wednesday, the 2ist of October, that a wom
an started the cry that Denis Francois, the baker, had
secreted bread. The shop was mobbed, and a few loaves
were found put aside for the family consumption.

"There has been hanged a baker this morning by the
populace, and all Paris is under arms," says the diary.
"The poor baker was beheaded according to custom, and
carried in triumph through the streets. He had been all
night at work for the purpose -of supplying the greatest
possible quantity of bread this morning. His wife is said
to have died of horror when they presented her husband's
head stuck on a pole. Surely it is not the usual order of
Divine Providence to leave such abominations unpun
ished. Paris is perhaps as wicked a spot as exists. In
cest, murder, bestiality, fraud, rapine, oppression, base
ness, cruelty ; and yet this is the city which has stepped

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 2OI

forward in the sacred cause of liberty. The pressure of in
cumbent despotism removed, every bad passion exerts its
peculiar energy. How the conflict will terminate Heaven
knows. Badly I fear ; that is to say, in slavery. The
court of the Louvre is occupied by cavalry. Go to the
Champs Elysees where I see General Dalrymple. He tells
me some additional circumstances of what is passing in
Austrian Flanders. There is great reason to believe that
the Stadtholder, supported by Prussia, will possess himself
of that valuable territory. While they are about it they
may as well take some of the strong posts which France
holds there, with some of the little principalities upon the
eastern quarter, and then these Low Countries will form a
very powerful state. Discord seems to extend itself more
and more through this kingdom, which is remotely threat
ened with a disunion of its provinces.

" There is nothing new at the club this evening, but the
Bishop of Autun brought the latest news to Madame de
Flahaut. He tells us that the Assembly have passed
what they call the law martial, but which is, properly
speaking, a riot act. The Garde des Sceaux has defended
himself this day before the Assembly tolerably. The
Bishop seems to have no great desire for a post in the ad
ministration at present. I think this arises partly from
disappointment and partly from apprehension. I urge
again the necessity of establishing among the candidates
for places such arrangements and good understanding as
may endure when in office, and contribute to the attain
ment of it. After dinner the Bishop goes away and Ca-
pellis comes in with Madame d'Angiviliers. Some inci
dents related in the conversation to show that M. de Nar-
~bonne, Madame de StaeTs friend, is 'un fort mauvais
sujet,' which accords well with a certain obliquity of as
pect that distinguishes a countenance otherwise good.

2O2 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. X.

Go from hence to Madame de Chastellux. The Vicomte
de Segur gives me a book he has written, and desires that
I will give him my candid opinion of it. It is a supposed
correspondence between Nifion de 1'Enclos and her lover,
the Marquis de Villarceaux. The Duchess receives a note
from the Due de Biron that the Due d'Orleans embarked
yesterday at nine in the morning with a fair wind for
England. It is said that three persons are to be hanged
to-morrow, by due course of law, for putting the baker to
death. They are wrong to defer the execution."

"At the club to-day [Oct. 22d] I enter into some discus
sions with a member of the iStats-Generaux or Assemblee
Nationale, who shows his own imbecility. At leaving the
room the company almost commit the indecency, so com
mon in the Assemblee, of clapping the speaker they ap
prove. One of them follows me out to mention that it is
in vain to show light to the blind. N'importe. Go to
Madame de Flahaut's. She has with her the Due de
Biron, who soon leaves her. She tells me an anecdote of
Lafayette, not much to his honor ; he had said in his lit
tle society of Madame de Simiane, in speaking of the Due
d'Orleans, ' Ses lettres de creance sont des lettres de grace.'
The Due de Biron who knows all the steps taken with the
Due d'Orleans (his friend), wrote to Lafayette on this sub
ject, and has received an answer in which he tells him,
1 Je n'ai pas pu me servir d'une telle expression puisqu'il
n'y a aucun indice contre le due d'Orleans.' She says
she has seen the letter. Undoubtedly the Due de Biron
will make it tolerably public. I leave when the Marquis
de Montesquiou comes in, and visit Madame de Chas
tellux. The Duchess arrives late, having been to visit the
Queen. Madame de Chastellux tells me the position of
affairs in this family. We discuss the line of conduct
which the Princess ought to pursue, and as she is in the

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 203

hands of the Vicomte de Segur and of Madame de Chas-
tellux, I think she will act with a degree of understanding
and firmness not natural to her. From thence return, ac
cording to my promise, to supper at Madame de Flahaut's.
A good deal of random chit-chat, in which she plays the
moqueuse on my bad French. This is not amiss. Stay till
twelve and then we all quit. Two persons have been
hanged this afternoon for murdering the baker, and there
are two or three more, it is said, to be hanged to-mor
row."

" Write all the morning [October 23d], and then take
Madame de Laborde and Madame de Tour to walk in
the Champs Elysees. General Dalrymple, who joins us,
tells me that Belgrade has surrendered ; and he also
tells me of certain horrors committed in Arras, but to
these things we are familiarized. Leave Madame de
Laborde and I go to M. Le Coulteux's. After a few min
utes M. de Cubieres comes in. He gives me a ludicrous

account of the conduct of the Due de on the famous

night of the 5th, and afterwards mentions the interview
between Lafayette and his sovereign — the former pale,
oppressed, and scarce able to utter the assurances of
his attachment ; the King, calm and dignified. The first
request was to give the custody of the royal person to
the former Gardes Franeais, now Milice Nationale.
This was conveyed in the form of an humble prayer to
be admitted to take their ancient post. Cubieres was
then obliged to retire, as some persons had entered who
had no right to be present, and in leaving the room he
was obliged to retire with them. From thence go to
Madame de Chastellux's. The Marechal and Comtesse
de Segur are there, but a fifth person is present, which
prevents conversation of any interest ; at a quarter after
eight I retire, leaving a message for the Duchess, who has

204 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. X.

not kept her appointment. By the bye, Madame de Fla-
haut hinted this morning a wish to be among the women
of the Duchess. I think this cannot be, mais nous ver-
rons s'il y a une place qui viendra de vaquer. Visit Ma
dame de Stae'l. Clermont-Tonnerre is there, and asks
whether he can be decently placed in America for 60,000
francs. I observe that he is despondent. I give scope to my
ideas respecting their situation, and he feels from thence
no small remorse, for, in fact, the evils they feel arise from
their own folly. Madame gives some little traits of re
proach for the weakness of mind which induces an idea of
retreat. I tell him that I have abandoned public life, I
hope, forever, but that if anything could prompt a wish for
a return it would be the pleasure of restoring order to
this country. I am asked what is my plan. I tell them
that I have none fixed, but I would fix my object and take
advantage of circumstances as they rise to attain it ; as to
their Constitution, it is good for nothing — they must fall
into the arms of royal authority. It is the only resource
which remains to rescue them from anarchy. Madame
de Stael asks me if my friend the Bishop will sup with
her this evening. 'Madame, peut-etre M. d'Autun
viendra, je n'en sais rien, mais je n'ai pas 1'honneur
de son amitieV 'Ah, vous etes 1'ami de son amie.' 'A
la bonne heure, Madame, par cette espece de consan-
guiniteV The Bishop, it seems, has invited himself and
M. de Tonnerre to sup with her. Go from thence to Ma
dame de Laborde's. A table of tric-trac, and a good deal
of chit-chat after it, keep us till one o'clock.

In a conversation on Saturday, the 24th. M. de Cantaleu
told Morris " that Necker had sent him word that I may
make my propositions regarding the debt on a quar
ter of a sheet of paper. Cantaleu, like the rest, is very
desponding about their public affairs. He says Necker

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 20$

has not abilities enough to get through his business, and
that there is equal danger in holding and abandoning his
post. This is very true. The Ministry and Assembly are
on the eve of a squabble, whose object will be to deter
mine which of them is to blame for the miserable situation
to which France is reduced. There is to-night at Madame
de Chastellux's the usual society. The Duchess tells
me I must come and dine with her. I tell her I am al
ways at her orders for any day she pleases. She tells me
to come when I please. I promise. After the rest of the
company is gone, the Chevalier de Foissy and I stay with
Madame de Chastellux and chat a little. She says she
will make her don patriotique by presenting me to the
King for one of his ministers. I laugh at the jest, and
the more so as it accords with an observation made by
Cantaleu to the same effect, which I considered as bor
dering on persiflage at least, and answered accordingly."

Mr. Morris mentions on Sunday, the 25th, spending
the evening in Madame Necker's salon. " M. Necker,"
he says, "is much occupied, and I cannot speak to him.
See for the first time since I arrived in Europe Count-
Fersen, whose merit consists in being the Queen's lover.
He has the air of a man exhausted."

On Tuesday, October 2yth, an invitation came to dine
with Necker, and converse about the French debt. " I go
thither," Morris says. " M. de Stael is very polite and
attentive. After dinner we retire to the minister's cabi
net. Cantaleu and I open the conversation. Tell M.
Necker that the terms he seems attached to differ so ma
terially from what I had thought of, that no definitive bar
gain can be made, and therefore, after fixing the terms, I
must have time to consult persons in London and Amster
dam ; that he is the best judge as to the sum below which
he cannot go ; that I will not attempt to bring him lower

2C>6 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. X.

than what he thinks he can justify, but if it is too high,
I am off ; that, having fixed the sum, we will then fix the
terms, and finally he must be bound and I free ; that it
is necessary to keep the transaction secret, because,
whether we bargain or not, if my name be mentioned, it
will destroy the utility of my friends in America, who
have been and will continue to be firm advocates for doing
justice to everybody ; and further, that if it be known in
America that France is willing to abate, it will be a mo
tive with many to ask abatements on the part of the
United States. He feels the force of these observations,
and desires to consider how far he and M. de Montmorin
can treat this affair without the Assembly. He does not
like the idea of being bound, and leaving me free. I ob
serve to him that nothing is more natural. He is master
of his object, and can say yes or no. But I must apply to
others, and it cannot be expected that rich bankers will
hold their funds at my disposal upon the issue of an un
certain event, much less withdraw those funds from other
occupation. He agrees that there is force in this obser
vation. He then talks of ten millions per annum for three
years as being a proper consideration. I tell him that I
cannot agree to such sum. He says he has been spoken
to about it, and is informed that he can discount it in Hol
land at twenty per cent. I tell him that I doubt the last,
because, having been in correspondence with two capital
houses in Holland relative to a loan which I am author
ized to make, they both inform me that the several loans
now opened for different powers, and the scarcity of
money, renders success impossible. De Cantaleu presses
me to offer terms. I mention 300,000 f. a month, to begin
with next January, and continue till the 24,000,000 f. are
paid. Here this part of the conversation ends. He is to
confer with Montmorin. He then asks me about the ex-

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 2O?

port of wheat and flour from America this season. I re
ply that my answer must be much hazarded, but at length
estimate that it may amount to a million bushels of wheat
and 300,000 barrels of flour. He proposes the question
whether there be not goods in France which, sent out to
America, may serve for the purchase of flour. I tell him
no, for that goods will sell on credit, and flour for cash.
He asks whether it would not be well to send ships to
America for flour on the part of the King, for such a
scheme has been proposed to him from Bordeaux. I tell
him no, because the alarm would be spread, and prices
thereby greatly raised ; that the ships should be char
tered in such a way as to be bound to take wheat, flour,
or tobacco, and then they might proceed in the usual line
of mercantile speculation. Finally I drop the idea that
six weeks ago I would have contracted for the delivery of
one hundred to one hundred and fifty thousand barrels of
flour, at a fixed price. He asks with vivacity why I did
not propose it. I reply that I did not choose to push my
self forward, which is a slight hint that he might, if he
pleased, have applied for information. He asks why not
propose such a contract now. I tell him that the order
he has already given will, I fear, raise the prices too high
in America. He says it is a trifle, only 30,000 barrels. I
tell him it is 60,000, but he says the last 30,000 is very uncer
tain. Rather presses me to make an offer. I tell him I
will consider of it.

"Leave M. Necker and go to Madame de Chastellux's.
She is in bed and in tears ; fears that her brother is killed,
or rather dead of the wounds he received at the capture
of Belgrade. I give her all the comfort which the case
admits of ; viz., a hope that it is not so, for, by suspending
the stroke a little while, its eifect is less forcible. The let
ter she has received, and which she shows me, looks ill.

208 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. X.

Converse a little with Madame de Segur about our friend
Lafayette's connection with Mirabeau. She wishes to know
what I would have him do. I tell her that if he did me
the honor to ask my advice, I could not give him any
good ; that he has reduced himself to the situation of
making Mirabeau a dangerous enemy by neglect, or still
more dangerous friend by aiding him in his views ; that it
is M. Necker who now plays the handsome part. He will
not stay in the ministry if Mirabeau be admitted. Mira
beau insists on coming in, and if he succeeds, M. Necker
has the desired opportunity of retiring from a post which
at present it is equally dangerous to keep or leave. Being
forced out, Mirabeau will be obliged by the general opin
ion to abandon the place he has acquired, and then a
ministry will be chosen entirely new. She wishes much
to know who I think would be proper, and mentions the
Bishop d'Autun as having a very bad reputation. I tell
her that I doubt the truth of what is said against him,
because there are facts which show that he has some virt
ue, and merits confidence; that he has talents, but that,
without being attached to him or any other person in par
ticular, I am persuaded that France can furnish men of
abilities and integrity for the first offices ; that M. de
Lafayette should discipline his troops, because his friend
Mirabeau may otherwise turn that weapon against him."

" Dine at the Palais Royal [October 28th] with Madame
de Rully, who sits for her picture in crayons. She has a
mind to coquet with me, because she has the same mind
as to everybody else. A madame de Vauban who is here
is a disagreeable looking woman. The interior of this
manage is very much like the Castle of Indolence. Go
from thence to the Louvre. The Bishop is with madame;
he asked a dinner with her son, who is arrived this day.
Quite a family party. He goes away, and I tell her that

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, 209

I am sorry to have interrupted such a scene. She dwells
much upon her child and weeps plenteously. I wipe away
the tears as they fall. This silent attention brings forth
professions of endless affection. She means every word
of it now, but nothing here below can last forever. We
go together to Madame de Laborde's and make a short
visit, the child being in company. Set her down at the
Louvre, and go to Madame de Chastellux's. The Duch
ess, who was not well at dinner, is very little better now,
or rather she is worse ; the usual case with those who suf
fer from the lassitude of indolence. Sleep becomes neces
sary from the want of exercise as well as from the excess
of it."

" After dining with M. Boutin, I go to Madame Necker's
[October 29th], where I speak to M. Necker on the sub
ject of subsistence. He catches at the idea of a con
tract for 20,000 barrels of flour, but will not make the
kind of contract which I proposed. He asks me what the
flour will cost. I tell him it will cost about 3o/ sterling,
and I offer to deliver it at 3i/ ; he wishes it at 3o/, and
desires me to write him a note on the subject, that he may
communicate to the King. He will not listen to the idea
of importing pork and rice, and giving them to the poor.
I endeavor to show him that by doing this and letting the
bread be sold at what it costs, the treasury would save, be
cause few would accept the donation, but all derive advan
tage from the loss on bread. He is wrong, but humanum
est errare. Go to Madame de Chastellux's. Her brother
is dead. The Duchess comes in late and the tea is delayed,
and finally I am obliged by the various delays to leave
them abruptly. At the Louvre madame is waiting for me.
We go to Madame de Laborde's to sup, and M. d'Afry and
I are, it seems, each to drink a bottle of wine. I perform
very nearly my task, but he declines entirely. The wine is

210 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. X.

good, but the strongest I ever tasted. After eating an en
ormous supper to accompany the liquor, I make tea and
then chat with the ladies."

" At dinner I hear [October 3oth] the news from Flan
ders. The Austrian Netherlands seem to be in a fair way
of shaking off the yoke, and it is said that they have a
great number of deserters, both officers and soldiers, from
the Prussian army. It is to be concluded that Prussia is
concerned in the business, and if so England may proba
bly be also for something. Indeed, this opportunity is
most inviting. There appears to me no good reason why
all the Low Countries should not be united under one sov
ereign, and why they should not possess themselves of all
the strong places on the French frontier, Calais, Lille,
Tournay, Douay, Mons, Namur, and even Cambray, in
which last place there is absolutely no garrison, for the
milice bourgeoise have insisted on doing the duty, which
they are now heartily tired of. Namur, which is in the
Emperor's dominions, is absolutely dismantled. Go, after
dinner, to Madame de Chastellux's and make tea for the
Duchess. She presses me to come and dine with her soon,
with Madame de Segur. I promise for Monday, to which
Madame de Segur agrees. Go to Madame de StaeTs ; a
conversation too brilliant for me. Sup and stay late. I
shall not please here because I am not sufficiently pleased."

" Saturday afternoon [October 3 ist] I go to the Louvre,
and get Madame de Flahaut to correct my letter to M.
Necker. Capellis mentions to me the supplying of Brest,
Rochefort, and Toulon with flour, and says he believes they
have already ordered it from America. I tell him that M.
de la Luzerne would have done well to consult me on the
subject ; that the different departments sending separate
orders to different people necessarily raised the prices
upon each other. Take tea with Madame de Chastellux.

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 211

The Duchess comes in. M. de Foissi tells us that the debate
on church property is postponed till Monday, at the in
stance of Mirabeau, and that it was thought the motion
would have been negatived had the question been put
this day. The Duchess reminds me of the promise to dine
on Mcfnday and then departs."

"A large party at Madame de Flahaut's on Sunday [No
vember ist] ; a very excellent and a very pleasant dinner.
After dinner Madame's physician comes in and tells her
that a M. Vandermont has said of rne that I arn an ' in
trigant, un mauvais sujet* and a partisan of the Due d'Orleans.
He insists not to be named ; she tells me that this man is
very dangerous, being a mauvais sujet, and wishes me to speak
to Lafayette. There is but one thing to be done, if I stir at
all, and that is to call on him and tell him that if he
speaks disrespectfully of me again I will put him to
death ; but in times like the present such conduct would
only give an air of importance to what must otherwise
fall of itself, for I am not of sufficient consequence to oc
cupy the public attention. This man, she says, would not
scruple to bring me to the lanthorn, in other words, to
have me hanged. This would be rather a sharp retribu
tion for the remark which has excited his rage. On the
fifth of last month he dined with me at M. Lavoisier's, and
observed that Paris maintained the kingdom of France,
to which I answered, ' Oui, Monsieur comme moi je nourris
les elephants de Siam.' This excited the choleric humors
of a pedant, and he takes his revenge by saying things
which are, luckily, too improbable to be believed. On the
whole, I resolve to take no notice of this thing, particu
larly as I could not produce my author, should M. Van
dermont deny the fact, and that would place me in a very
ridiculous position. At five I visit the Marquis de Lafay
ette. He tells me that he has followed my advice, though

212 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. X.

he did not answer my letter. I congratulate him on what
passed two days ago from a gentleman to the Comte de
Mirabeau, which was so pointedly affrontive as to ruin
him, because he cannot be now placed in the ministry
and is lost in the opinion of the Assembly. He asks with
eagerness if I think he is lost with them. I reply that the
Bishop d'Autun has just expressed that opinion to me.
He says he does not know the Bishop much, and should
be glad to know him more. I offer to give them a dinner
together the day after to-morrow, or if he does not choose
it, I will say nothing about the matter. He desires me to
say nothing of it, because if he should dine with me in
stead of at home, it would make an histoire — which is true.
He wishes me, however, to bring the Bishop to breakfast
with him the day after to-morrow. I promise to invite
him. Go to Madame de Laborde's. M. de la Harpe
reads us some observations on La Rochefoucault, La
Bruyere, and St. Evremond. They have merit but are
liable to criticism. After supper we fall into politics.
Monsieur tells us that the municipality of Rouen have
stopped some grain intended for Paris. This leads to ob
servation on the many-headed monster they have created
in the executive department. He exculpates the Assem
bly as having been obliged to destroy in order to correct.
But the necessity of such an apology augurs ill. Indeed,
whenever apology for the conduct of government becomes
necessary, they are in the way toward contempt, for they
must acknowledge misconduct before they excuse it, and
the world is kind enough to believe the acknowledgment
and reject the excuse."

" Monday morning [November 2d] take Madame de
Flahaut and Madame de Laborde to walk in the King's
Garden and then to the Church of the Sorbonne to examine
the monument of the Cardinal de Richelieu. The dome

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 213

of the church is fine. Go later to the Palais Royal to
dine with the Duchesse d'Orleans. I arrive late and have
kept dinner waiting half an hour. Excuse myself as hav
ing waited news from the Assemblee Nationale, which is
true, because I stayed at the Louvre some time to see the
Bishop d'Autun, who did not come in. We dine well and
pleasantly, with as little ceremony as possible, at the table
of a person so high in rank. After coffee go with Ma
dame de Segur to the apartments of Madame de Cha-
stellux. The Marechal reads us a letter from M. Lally-
Tollendal to his constituents which is not calculated to do
much good to the Assemblee Nationale. It will not do
him any good either, for the King, for whom it is meant,
will want rather those who can render the Assemble use
ful, than those who absent themselves from it. The
Duchess comes in and gives us the bulletin of the Assem
blee. They have determined that the church property
belongs to the nation, or, at least, that the nation has a
right to make use of it. This latter expression seems to
have been adopted as conciliatory. From thence go to
Madame de Laborde's. After some time the Bishop
d'Autun comes in. He is to breakfast with me to-morrow,
and go thence to M. de Lafayette's."

" Tuesday morning [November 3d] in fulfilment of his
promise, the Bishop d'Autun calls on me and we breakfast.
He tells me that M. de Poix is to visit M. de Lafayette this
morning, in order to make terms for Mirabeau. We talk
a little about M. de Lafayette ; his worth and what he is
worth. At nine we go to visit him. The cabriolet of M. le
Prince de Poix is at the porte-cochere, whence we know he
is here. M. de Lafayette is closeted with him. A great
many visitors and affairs render the minutes for our con
versation short. Lafayette makes professions of esteem,
and desires to receive frequent visits. There is an dmeute in

214 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. X.

v the Faubourg St. Antoine about bread, which leads to a
consideration of the means to supply Paris. Lafayette pro
poses a committee, consisting of three ministers, three of
the municipality of Paris, and three members of the Etats-
Gene"raux, and says there is a man who, acting under such
committee, can serve the supplies. The Bishop thinks the
Assemblee will not meddle. I am sure they will not, be
cause they act only from fear, and will not risk the conse
quences of being responsible for the subsistence of this
city. Lafayette asks the Bishop what he thinks of a new
ministry. He says that nobody but M. Necker can sustain
the famine and bankruptcy which appear unavoidable. La
fayette asks if he does not think it would be right to prepare
a ministry for some months hence. The Bishop thinks it
would. They discuss a little character, and as par hasard
Lafayette asks whether Mirabeau's influence in the As
sembly is great, to which the Bishop replies that it is not
enormous. We fall back by degrees to the subsistence,
and I suggest a hint which Short has given me, viz., to
give medals to the poor, representing a pound of bread,
and then let it rise to what price it may, by which means
the Government will in effect pay for the bread they eat,
and for that only, whereas they now pay for a part of what
everybody eats. On this the Bishop observes that the
ministers, in this moment when the charge of plot is so
frequent, will be accused of a conspiracy against the na
tion if they make largesses of bread to the multitude. I
think he sees that their plan would give the administra
tion too much power to be removed, and he is right. His
idea, I think, is to come in when the magazines are full,
and then to do what he wishes may not now be done. La
fayette in the course of conversation mentions his friend
La Rochefoucauld, saying at the same time that he has
not the needful abilities, but that his integrity and reputa-

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 21$

tion are important. I think this is the only man he will
insist upon, and I think any person we please may be ad
mitted as the price of the duke's admission. The Bishop
says he cannot think of a new ministry unless the change
is entire. Lafayette agrees to this, and says that in this
moment the friends of liberty ought to unite and to un
derstand, each other. At coming away the Bishop ob
serves to me that Lafayette has no fixed plan, which is
true. With a great deal of the intrigant in his character
he must be used by others because he has -not talent
enough to make use of them. Go to M. Necker's after
setting the Bishop down. M. Vauviliers receives me in
the drawing-room with a compliment as being the person
who is to feed France. After dinner M. Necker takes me
aside. He wishes to tie me down to fixed periods for the
arrival of the flour and for the payment. I tell him I wish to
have a house to contract with me. He says I run no risk,
and he will have the agreement signed by the King. My
carriage not being come, Madame de Stael insists upon
taking me where I want to go. Later, when I go to the
club, I find that the Assembly have this day suspended the
parlements. This is a better blow at tyranny than any
they have yet struck, but it will occasion much ferment
among the numerous influential characters which they
are composed of."

"At the club there is the usual diversity of opin
ion on the state of public affairs [November 4th]. Go
from here to Madame de Chastellux's. The Duchess re
proaches me for going away early last evening and com
ing late now. Has been here near two hours, and her son,
M. de Beaujolais, is brought on purpose to see me. He
presents himself with a very good grace. Is enjouJ et em-
presstf. I kiss him several times, which he returns with
eagerness. He will make a pleasant fellow some ten

2l6 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. X.

or twelve years hence, for the petites -mattresses of that day.
Puisignieu is here, and after some time Madame de Segur
comes in. The Marechal is afflicted with gout. Madame
de Chastellux is to take a bouillon to-morrow with her
fair friend. Thence I am led to believe in the possibility
of a marriage between her and the old gentleman, which
other circumstances give much room to imagine. Go
thence to Madame de Stael in consequence of her invita
tion yesterday. A great deal of bel esprit. The Bishop
d'Autun declined coming this morning, when I asked him
at Madame de Flahaut's. I am not sufficiently brilliant
for this consultation. The few observations I make have
more of justice than splendor, and therefore cannot amuse.
No matter, they will perhaps remain when the others are
effaced. I think there is a road to success here, in the
upper region of wits and graces, which I am half tempted
to try. It is the sententious style. To arrive at perfec
tion in it one must be very attentive, and either wait till
one's opinion be asked, or else communicate it in a whis
per. It must be clear, pointed, and perspicuous, and then
it will be remembered, repeated, and respected. This,
however, is playing a part not natural to me. I am not
sufficiently an economist of my ideas. I think that in my
life I never saw such exuberant vanity as that of Madame
de Stael upon the subject of her father. Speaking of the
opinion of the Bishop d'Autun upon the subject of the
church property, which has lately been printed, not hav
ing had an opportunity to deliver it in the Assembly,
she says it is excellent, it is admirable, in short there are
two pages in it which are worthy of M. Necker. After
wards she says that wisdom is a very rare quality, and she
knows of no one who possesses it in a superlative degree
except her father."

''This morning [November 5th] the Comte de Luxem-

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 2 1/

bourg and La Caze come to breakfast for the purpose of
knowing my sentiments on public affairs. At dinner I
hear the news from Brabant, viz , that the imperial troops
had been much worsted, and that the people have declared
independence. This latter part is certain, for I read the
declaration, or rather part of it."

" Spend the morning [November 6th] with Le Coulteux
adjusting the form of a contract for flour with M. Necker,
which is to be copied and sent with a note from me. Re
turn home after three to dress, then go to M. de Montmo-
rin's. Luckily the dinner has been kept back on account
of some members of the Etats-Generaux or Assemblee.
After dinner he asks me why I do not come oftener. He
wishes much to converse with me. He is engaged to dine
abroad next Tuesday, but any other day, etc. Chat with
Madame de Beaumont, his daughter, who is a sprightly,
sensible woman, and at six take Madame de Flahaut to
the opera, where I am so weak as to shed tears at a panto
mime representation of the ' Deserters.' So true it is
that action is the great art of oratory. Go from the opera
to Madame de Chastellux's ; the Comtesse de Segur has
been there with her children ; all disappointed at not see
ing me ; this is civil, but I am sorry not to have met them.
The Duchess has left her reproof ; all that is well enough.
Madame tells me that the Prussian General Schlefer, who
commanded the army of 10,000 men sent to quiet the
troubles of Liege, after a few executions which restored
order, harangued his troops, thanked them for their
zeal, and then, by reason of the disordered state of his master's
finances, disbanded them ; but in consideration of their
former services, left them their arms, baggage, etc., and gave
them a month's pay to maintain them on their journey home.
In the astonishment naturally resulting from such an
event the patriots of Brabant offered them very advanta-

2l8 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. X.

geous terms, and of course the whole army passed into
their service. General Dalton, apprised of this manoeuvre,
immediately applied to Count d'Esterhazy, command
ing at Valenciennes, to know if he would receive the Aus
trian troops. This last despatched an express to M. de la
Tour du Pin, the Minister of War here. A council was
held and the answer returned this morning. Go to Ma
dame de Laborde's. In the course of the evening mention
this as a rumor, the authenticity of which I will not war
rant. M. Bonnet tell us that such a report being spread,
though differing materially in circumstances, inasmuch as
it related only to a request to be admitted unarmed in case
events should render a retreat necessary, he had inquired
of one of the ministers and had been told that they had
luckily found an excuse for not complying with Dalton's
request, in the want of subsistence, already so great. This
is weak indeed ; they should have received those troops,
near 10,000 men, and marched them slowly toward Stras
bourg, there to wait the Emperor's orders. The battalions
he has already marched to their assistance, joined to these
and to the foreign regiments in the service of France, would
form an army sufficient to restore order to this kingdom, and
discipline to their troops, etc. The idea of those who differ
with me is, that the Parisians would immediately assassinate
the King and Queen ; but I am far from believing in such
an attempt, and I am persuaded that a respectable body
of troops in a position to avenge that crime would be a
cogent motive to prevent it. These, however, are the con
jectures of a private man. Unhappy France, to be torn by
discord in the moment when wise and temperate councils
would have led thee to the pinnacle of human greatness !
There has happened this day a very strange incident ; a
person who says he belongs to the family of Montmorenci
(i.e.) a servant of one of them, is arrested for giving money

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 2 19

to a baker not to bake. Either some of these persons are
mad, or else their enemies have a wickedness of invention
worthy of the prime mover of evil. At going away this
evening the Comte de Luxembourg takes me aside and
asks if I have thought of a person for Prime Minister of
this country. I repeat what I told him on Thursday, that
I am not sufficiently acquainted with men and things here
to hazard opinions ; that France has my best wishes for
her prosperity and sincere regret for her situation. He is
to breakfast with me on Monday. This evening, not being
able to obtain cream for her tea, one of the company pro
posed to Madame de Laborde to try a species of cheese.
This odd proposition was adopted, and to my amazement
it proved to be the best cream which I have tasted in
Paris. I get home late, and find a letter from Cantaleu,
desiring my aid to combat a proposition made in the As
sembly this morning by Mirabeau. It is to send an em
bassy extraordinary to America, to desire payment of the
debt to France, in corn and flour."

" This morning [November yth] Cantaleu breakfasts
with me, and we prepare his argument against Mirabeau's
proposition. I hear that M. Necker is making inquiries
as to the price at which flour can be delivered here. I tell
my informer, who wishes to know my sentiments, that if
M. Necker has set on foot such an inquiry it is with a
view to chaffering in a bargain he is about to make ; that
I have told him the price which the flour will cost. Call
at half-past three on Madame de Flahaut. The Bishop
comes immediately after. The event of Mirabeau's prop
ositions, levelled at the ministry, has been a resolu
tion that no member of the present States-General shall
be admitted to share in the administration. Some meas
ures have been taken to guard the church property, at the
instigation of the Bishop. The news which Madame de

22O DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. X.

Chastellux communicated last evening are, I believe, en
tirely false, and yet they were told to her by a confidential
person. To be sparing of one's faith is in this country
to economize one's reputation."

"Engaged all the morning [November 8th] writing. At
three I dine with Madame de Flahaut. We have an excel
lent dinner, and, as usual, a conversation extremely gay.
After dinner, the company go to cards, and I who have im
posed upon myself the law not to play, read a motion of
the Comte de Mirabeau, in which he shows very truly the
dreadful situation of credit in this country, but he is not
so successful in applying a remedy as in disclosing the
disease. This man will always be powerful in opposition,
but never great in administration. His understanding is,
I believe, impaired by the perversion of his heart. There
is a fact which very few seem to be apprised of, viz.,
that a sound mind cannot exist where the morals are un
sound. Sinister designs render the view of things oblique.
From the Louvre go to Madame de Chastellux's. The
Comte de Segur and his amiable daughter-in-law are
there. Make a declaration of love to her in jest, which I
might have done in earnest ; but as she expects every
hour a husband whom she loves, neither the jest nor ear
nest would be of consequence."

Formality seems to have taken no part in the arrange
ment of dinner guests, for Morris says, " I go to-day
[November Qth] to dine at M. Necker's, and place myself
next to Madame de Stael, and as our conversation grows
animated, she desires me to speak English, which her hus
band does not understand. Afterwards in looking round
the table, I observe in him much emotion. I tell her that
he loves her distractedly, which she says she knows, and
that it renders her miserable. Condole with her a little
on her widowhood, the Chevalier de Narbonne being ab-

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 221

sent in Franche-Comte. Much conversation about the
Bishop d'Autun. I desire her to let me know if he suc
ceeds, because I will, in such case, make advantage of such
intelligence in making my court to Madame de Flahaut.
A proposition more whimsical could hardly be made to a
woman, but the manner is everything, and so it passes.
She tells me she rather invites than repels those who in
cline to be attentive, and some time after says that perhaps
I may become an admirer. I tell her that it is not impos
sible ; but, as a previous condition, she must agree not to
repel me, which she promises. After dinner I seek a con
versation with the husband, which relieves him. He in
veighs bitterly against the manners of this country, and
the cruelty of alienating a wife's affections. He says that
women here are more corrupt in their minds and hearts
than in any other way. I regret with him, on general
grounds, that prostration of morals which unfits them for
good government. Hence, he concludes, and I believe
truly, that I shall not contribute towards making him un
comfortable.

" When M. Necker has got rid of those who environ
him he takes me into his cabinet, observes that I have
stipulated to receive such premium as the court may give
for other flour on importation of the first 20,000 barrels.
I tell him that he must feel with me the propriety of that
stipulation, but that I presume he will not give any pre
mium. He says that he disapproves of it, but that so
many urge the measure he shall he obliged perhaps to
submit, for in the present times they are frequently under
the necessity of doing what they know to be wrong. He
leaves that stipulation, but he says I ought to be bound
in a penalty to deliver the 20,000. I tell him that I cer
tainly mean to comply with my contract, but that he also
ought to be bound to a penalty. He proposes ^2,000,

222 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. X.

assuring me that it is only to comply with needful forms.
I tell him I have no objection to a greater sum, except
that I cannot command the elements, and, of course, do
not know how long it will be before my letters reach
America. He says that they will not exact the penalty
on account of the delay of a month or two, upon which we
agree. He pauses in amending the agreement, at the
binding of the King to a like penalty. I cut the matter
short by telling him that I rely on His Majesty's honor
and the integrity of his ministers. I tell him that I ex
pect he will not extend his orders in America, and he says
he will not, but rely on me, for which purpose it is that he
wishes the bargain to be such that he may have full confi
dence in it. Having signed the agreement, which he is to
send to me to-morrow countersigned by the King, I go
later to Madame de Chastellux's, make tea for the Duch
ess and introduce the eating of a rye bread toast, which is
found to be excellent. The Vicomte de Segur comes in
and tells us that the Baron de Besenval has discovered
that England gives two millions sterling to make mischief
in this country. I dispute the matter, which is, I am sure,
impossible. He insists with great warmth that it is true,
and thence concludes that the tales circulated to the prej
udice of the Duke of Orleans are false. There is a great
deal of absurdity in all this, and if he makes such a de
fence for the Duke everywhere, he will convict him.
Madame de Segur takes me aside at going out, to remark
on this, and adds her persuasion that the Duke was the
distributor of the money given for these wicked purposes.
The Comte de Luxembourg asked me, in the course of the
evening, what should be done to ameliorate the deplorable
situation of France. I tell him, nothing ; that time can
alone indicate the proper measures and the proper moment;
that those who would accelerate events may get themselves

1789] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 223

hanged, but cannot alter the course of things ; that if the As
sembly become generally contemptible, a new order must
naturally arise from that circumstance ; but if they preserve
public confidence, they only can restore this country to
health and tranquillity, and of consequence no private in
dividuals can in the present moment do good. He says
he is afraid some persons will be precipitate, and show an
armed opposition. I tell him that if any be so mad, they
must take the consequence of their rashness, which will be
fatal to themselves and to their cause, for that successful op
position always confirms authority. This young man de
sires to meddle with the state affairs, but he has not yet read
the book of man, and though a good mathematician I am
told, may yet be a very wretched politician. M. le Nor-
mand, whom I see to-day, considers a public bankruptcy
here as inevitable, and views a civil war as the necessary
consequence."

" I hear from Mr. Richard [November loth] that the
Duke of Orleans offered Beaumarchais 20 per cent, for a
loan of 500,000 francs, and that he had since applied to their
house for a loan of 300,000 francs, but in both cases without
success ; that their house is so pushed for money, they know
not how to turn themselves. Go to dinner at Madame La
Tour's ; arrive very late, but, luckily, the Comte d'Afry
and the Bishop d'Autun arrive still later. We have a bad
dinner and more company than can sit at the table. Ev
erything is ennuyeux ; perhaps it arises in a great measure
from myself. Go with the Comte d'Afry to the repre
sentation of 'Charles Neuf,' a tragedy founded on the
massacre of St. Bartholomew. It is a very extraordinary
piece to be represented in a Catholic country. A cardi
nal, who excites the king to violate his oaths and murder
his subjects, then in a meeting of assassins consecrates
their daggers, absolves them from their crimes, and prom-

224 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. X.

ises everlasting felicity, all this with the solemnities of
the established religion. A murmur of horror runs
through the audience. There are several observations
calculated for the present times, and, I think, this piece,
if it runs through the provinces, as it probably will, must
give a fatal blow to the Catholic religion. My friend the
Bishop d'Autun has gone a great way towards its destruc
tion by attacking the church property. Surely there
never was a nation which verged faster towards anarchy.
No law, no morals, no principles, no religion. After the
principal piece I go to Madame de Laborde's. I am re
quested to attend Madame d'Angivilier, and, as the devil
will have it, they enter on politics at eleven and stay till
one, disputing whether the abuses of former times are
more grievous than the excesses which are to come."

" This morning early [November nth] the Comte de
Luxembourg comes in and stays all the morning. He
presses me hard to promise that I will take a part in the
administration of their affairs. This is a mighty strange
proposition, particularly from a man who has, I think, no
sort of interest, though indisputably of the first family in
this country. He drops the idea of a combination which
exists, and whose intention is to restore affairs to a better
situation, and that he is in their confidence. But two
questions naturally arise upon this subject : What they
mean by a. better situation ? and whether they be not persons
who think they can govern because they wish to govern ?
It is possible that this young man may be connected with
people of greater maturity on some political intrigue, and
may be authorized to talk to me, though I doubt both the
one and the other, particularly the latter. I make, how
ever, the same answer, which I should do to a more regu
lar application, that I am wearied with public affairs ; the
prime of my life has been spent in public occupations ;

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 22$

my only present wish is to pass the remainder in peace
ful retirement among my friends. I add, however, for his
own government, that, in my opinion, no change can be
operated at present which will be either useful or safe.

" After he leaves me I go to Madame de Stael's. The
Bishop d'Autun is here, and I fix with him to dine at Ma
dame de Flahaut's with the Marquis de Montesquieu next
Friday, for the purpose of discussing M. Necker's plan
of finance, which is then to be proposed.* A great deal of
light chit-chat here, which amounts to nothing. Madame
Dubourg is so kind as to stimulate me a little into con
versation with her, and whispers that ' Madame FAmbas*
sadrice fait les doux yeux a M. 1'Eveque,' which I had al
ready observed, and also that he was afraid I should see
too much."

"I dine to-day [November i2th] with M. de Mont-
morin. After dinner converse with him on the situation
of affairs. He tells me that their administration has no
head, that M. Necker is too virtuous to be at the head, and
has too much vanity ; that he himself has not sufficient
talents, and if he had he could not undergo the fatigue ;

* Necker's plan of finance, which Morris frequently mentions, was an
effort to induce the National Assembly to consent to the conversion of the
Caisse d'Escompte into a national bank j. the commissioners to be chosen
by the National Assembly ; the notes put successively ins circulation to be
fixed at two hundred and forty millions ; the nation, by a special decree of
the National Assembly, sanctioned by his Majesty, to guarantee the notes,
which were to be stamped with the arms of France- and the legend ' ' Garantie
Nationale." He also proposed that the capital of the Caisse d'Escompte, which
represented then thirty millions in circulation and seventy deposited, should
be augmented to fifty millions by a creation of twelve thousand five hundred
shares payable in silver. Loustalot opposed Necker's scheme on the ground,
that it would simply associate the nation in the bankruptcy of the Caisse
d'Escompte, for if the Caisse d'Escompte had the credit, it had no use for a
national guarantee, and if the nation had the credit, it was not necessary
for the Caisse d'Escompte to establish a Caisse Nationale. Bouchez and
Roux mention that Necker's project made but little sensation, as several of
the journals did not even notice it.

'5

226 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. X.

that as to great measures the King is incapable of them ;
and therefore he has no other method of acquiring power
but to gain the love of his subjects, to which he is entitled
by his goodness of heart. Madame de Flahaut tells me,
when I call on her this evening, that she wishes to have
her husband appointed minister in America. Has spoken
to Montesquieu on the subject, who has applied to Mont-
morin, but was told that the place was given ten months
ago. I had already told her that it could not be, at least,
for the present."

" To-day [November i3thj I am invited to meet the
Bishop d'Autun and the Duke de Biron at Madame de
Flahaut's, but first to take Madame de Laborde and my
fair hostess to visit Notre Dame. The Bishop d'Autun
and the Duke consider M. Necker absolutely ruined.
The Duke tells me that Necker's plan was disapproved of
yesterday in the Council, or rather, last evening. Montes-
quiou comes in and I go away, as there is a little affair to
settle between him and the Bishop. Visit Madame de
Corney. Leave her surrounded by two or three persons,
one of whom is engaged in the discussion of the proces of
M. de Lambesc, accused of the crime of lese nation for
wounding a man in the Tuileries on the Sunday preced
ing the capture of the Bastille. Return to the Louvre.
Madame informs me that the affair is settled between the
Bishop and the Marquis. Indeed, it could not be other
wise, for it was a falsehood related of the former to the
latter, and, of course, a denial put things to rights. Ma
dame being ill goes into the bath, and when placed there
sends for me. It is a strange place to receive a visit, but
there is milk mixed with the water, making it opaque.
She tells me that it is usual to receive in the bath, and I
suppose it is, for otherwise I should have been the last
person to whom it would have been permitted."

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 22?

CHAPTER XI.

Exodus from the ranks of society. Many closed salons. Changed state
of feeling. Necker's "plan" for the Caisse d'Escompte. The Pope
quarrels with the farmers-general. Opposition to Necker. Mirabeau
describes the Assembly. Lafayette's ambition. A tedious session.
Interview with Necker. Tea at Madame de Laborde's. Plan for
dealing with the American debt to France. Necker converses on the
constitution then preparing. The Bishop d'Autun asks advice as to
speaking in the Assembly. A rumor that he is to be appointed Ameri
can Minister to the Court of Louis XVI. An evening in Madame de
StaeTs salon. Tact of the hostess. Clermont-Tonnerre reads a dis
course. Necker speculates as to the issue of one hundred and thirty
millions of paper money. The Abbe Delille reads his own verses
in Madame de Chastellux's drawing-room.

BY November society began to feel the exodus from its
ranks. The most brilliant salons of a few months
back were closed and silent, and their gay inmates lan
guishing in foreign lands. In the few that remained
open the society forgot that persiflage and coquetry which
had been its life. The hostess forgot her tranquil mode
of dispensing hospitality while listening to the heated de
bate ; and, presiding over her tea-table, was not unlikely,
in the excitement of political discussion, ungracefully to
spill the scalding liquid over her hands. Men forgot to
make k>ve to their hostesses in their eagerness to read to
them the latest news in the Gazette, and strangest of all,
the women forgot to notice the cessation of compliments
and love-making in their zeal to discuss a motion to be
made by a deputy, or the latest brochure of a friend.
The salon of Madame de Beauharnais still flourished, and

228 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XI.

she, with her pretty, very feminine and enjuponnJ talent, en
tirely inoffensive to the amour propre of the sterner sex,
continued to draw about her a coterie who bemoaned the
insensibility of the world to their literary efforts. Here
la liberte et re'galitt, those dames d'atours of madame, her
counsellors les plus intimes, presided. Madame had herself
once made two or three jolts mots, and contented herself
by repeating them at intervals. Madame also knew how
to listen, or appear to listen when she never listened at all,
and here literature was the god to which they dedicated
themselves ; here Voltaire was crowned. Society must
find relief from constant political conversation, and the
gaming-table offered the best advantages. It became the
resort of the deputy, worn out trying to hear or make him
self heard in a disorderly seance, and of the noblesse who
played for money for daily expenses ; and so it was that
the gaming-table, offering so much to so many, continued
through all the shiftings and changes of events and people
in Paris, and flourished until the days of the Terror.

There was now a general unrest, a murmuring and spas
modic movement in the streets of Paris — one day like
those of a dead city ; the next awake with a feverish ex
citement, and orators holding forth everywhere. The
National Assembly fought over the constitution, Necker
struggled with the finances and subsistence, and Camille
Desmoulins wrote about and gloated over the disclosures
of the Red Book, with its list of fraudulent pensions and
its appalling sum-total.

It was Saturday, November i4th, that M. Necker brought
forward his plans for the Caisse d'Escompte, which was
to convert it into a national bank. " M. d'Aguesseau
tells me," Morris says, "that Necker proposed his plan
with much modesty and diffidence. No opinion can be
formed of the reception it will meet with. The Chevalier

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 229

de Boufflers and the Comte de Thiard, whom I meet at
dinner at the Duchess of Orleans's, are neither of them
pleased with what is going forward in the Assembly.
They are to sit three times a week in the afternoons. Go
to the Louvre ; Madame is in bed enrhumte. We have
several visitors, Madame Capellis among others, who tells
me that the Pope's nuncio is to be of our party next
Monday evening, and gives me to understand that he
wishes to be acquainted with me. I do not suppose that
this arises from any great devotion on my part to the Holy
Roman Apostolic See. While I am visiting I am troubled
with spasmodic affections of the nervous system which give
great pain at times in the stump of my amputated leg, and,
in the other leg, an anxious sensation which I conceive to
arise from some derangement of the nervous system, and
therefore I must expose myself more to the air and take
exercise. The wind has blown all night very hard and con
tinues high this morning. I think it is from the southwest,
and I fear that many have fallen victims to its rage. Gen
eral Dalrymple, whom I visit after dinner, tells me that
the gale of wind which we have had within these few days
has committed dreadful ravages on the British coast, and
that his letters announce the destruction of eight hundred
men. He considers M. Necker's plan as flat nonsense,
and tells me that the bankers he conversed with are of
opinion that it is good for nothing. I have read the m£-
moire, and I think this plan cannot succeed."

" On Monday at half-past nine call on Madame de Fla-
haut to take her to supper with Madame Capellis. She
is in bed and very much indisposed. Stay but a few
minutes and then go to supper. The nuncio of His Holi
ness is not here. It is the day on which his courier de
parts. Capellis tells me he wishes to bring us together,
because the Pope has quarrelled with the farmers-general

230 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XL

about the supplies of tobacco formerly taken from them ;
that he draws them now from Germany, and he thinks an
agreement might be made to furnish his Holiness from
America. I doubt much the success of the scheme, for
the Pope can only contract from year to year, and the dis
tance is such that half the year would be consumed before
a leaf of tobacco could arrive. The company here are
much disgusted with the actings and doings of the Assem-
blee Nationale."

"To-day [November iyth] I hear the latest American
news, which were conveyed by the British September pack
et. Mr. Jefferson has been made Secretary of Foreign Af
fairs. After some visitors leave, I go to the Chatelet to visit
the Baron de Besenval. The old gentleman is much pleased
with this attention. We talk politics a little and he takes
an opportunity to whisper that we shall soon have a
counter-revolution, which I have long considered as in
evitable, though I am not sufficiently master of facts to
judge from whence it is to arise. Go to club. The Par-
lement of Metz have, it seems, acted with more pointed
opposition than the Parlement of Rouen, and the Assem-
blee will fulminate its decrees in consequence. The
Church, the Law, and the Nobility, three bodies inter
mediary, which in this kingdom were equally formidable
to the King and people, are now placed by the Assemblee
in direct hostility, and they have at the same moment, by
the influence of ill-grounded apprehension, tied the hands
and feet of their natural ally, the King. A very little time
must unite the opposition, and when united they will of
course place themselves under the banners of the royal
authority, and then, farewell Democracy. Go from the
club to M. de Montmorin's. Nothing here worthy of at
tention. M. d'Aguesseau and M. Bonnet dine with us ;
the latter wants some information about their affairs in

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 231

India. I tell him that the way to check Britain in India
is to make the Isle of France un port-d armes, and a free
port, etc. M. de Montmorin tells us that he proposed
this very plan in 1783. M. Bonnet asks me if free ports
in France are necessary for us. I tell him that I be
lieve not, but on this subject he must consult Mr. Short,
who is our representative. He desires an interview, but
M. de Montmorin tells him that Mr. Short can have no
precise information on the subject. In effect, when this
matter was first agitated, Jefferson consulted me, but I
chose to preserve the respect due to the representative of
America. Visit Madame de Chastellux. She gives me
an account of the interior of her family. The Duchess
comes in, and the Marechal de Segur. He tells me that
Brittany has undergone a sudden change ; the Noblesse
and people are united, and they will reject the acts of the
Assemblee. M. de Thiard had told us that something of
this sort would happen. The Cambrises are also discon
tented. Go from thence to the Louvre. Madame is in
bed. The Bishop arrives ; he lays down his hat and cane,
and takes a chair in the manner of a man determined to
stay. He confirms the news from Brittany, and adds that
the cochois (?) looks black. This brings to my mind some
dark hints communicated by the Comte de Luxembourg
about Normandy. I told him, in reply to his apprehen
sions about the dismemberment of the kingdom, that if
Normandy, Picardy, Flanders, Champagne, and Alsace
continued true to the King, His Majesty might easily re
duce the remainder of his kingdom."

"This morning [November i8th] while I am writing La
Gaze comes in. He tells me that there was last night a
meeting of the actionnaires de la Caisse a'Escompte. They
have named the commissaires to treat, report, etc., on
Necker's plan. The general opinion seems to be opposed to

232 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XI.

the plan, which, indeed, I do not wonder at. Dine with
M. de Lafayette on the Quai du Louvre. He does not
come in until long after we had sat down to dinner, and
yet we did not sit down till five. After dinner I ask him
what he thinks of Necker's plan. He says it is the gen
eral opinion that it will not go down. He adds that the
Bishop d'Autun, or somebody else, should come for
ward with another. I reply that no man can properly
come forward with a plan except the minister, because no
other person can know sufficiently all the needful circum
stances ; that the present administration must be kept in
their seats, because the late resolution of the Assembly
prohibits a choice of ministers in their body. He says
that he thinks he can for once take a ministry out of the
Assemblee, provided he does not name Mirabeau and one
or two others. Upon this I observe that I do not know
whether the Bishop d'Autun and his friends will be so
weak as to accept of office in the present wild situation of
affairs ; that nothing can be done without the aid of the
Assemblee, who are incompetent ; and that, the executive
authority being annihilated, there is but little chance of
carrying their decrees into effect, even if they could be in
duced to decree wisely. He says that Mirabeau has well
described the Assemblee, which he calls the Wild Ass ; that
in a fortnight they will be obliged to give him authority
which he has hitherto declined. He shows clearly in his
countenance that it is the wish of his heart. I ask him
what authority. He says a kind of dictatorship, such as
Generalissimo, he does not exactly know what will be
the title. Upon this I tell him again that he ought to
discipline his troops, and remind him of a former question,
viz., whether they would obey him. He says they will,
but immediately turns round and talks to some other per
son. Here is a vaulting ambition which o'erleaps itself.

i739.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 233

This man's mind is so elated by power, already too great
for the measure of his abilities, that he looks into the
clouds and grasps at the supreme. From this moment
every step in his ascent will, I think, accelerate his fall.
Leave this place and go to the Louvre. Madame has com
pany. Stay till they are gone. The Marquis de Montes-
quiou was here when I arrived ; he had just entered. He
is running round now to smell the incense which will
be offered him for his plan of finance, which was this day
communicated to the Assembiee. It goes, as I am told,
upon the basis of paying off the national debt by a
sale of the church property. I tell Madame that, if
this be so, it will prove a bubble, for the reasons long
since assigned to the Bishop d'Autun. The reliance on
this fund was the radical defect of his plan. Go hence
to the apartments of Madame de Chastellux. She tells
me that the Marquis de Lafayette intends to imitate
Washington and retire from public service as soon as
the constitution is established. Perhaps he may be
lieve this himself, but nothing is more common than to
deceive ourselves. Sup at Madame de Laborde's. The
Comte de Luxembourg tells me that the opposition made
in some districts to the recalling of the Gardes dti Corps
has prevented the execution of a plan. I do not ask
him what it is, because I do not wish to know. He tells
me that M. de Lafayette committed a great imprudence
in telling him aloud, in the hearing of many persons, that
he could not be charged with preventing it. I collect from
this only that there is much latent animosity against
him, and that while he is building his castle others are
employed in mining the foundation."

"This morning [November i9th], while the Comte d'Es-
taing is with me, I receive a note from M. Le Coulteux. He
has been three hours yesterday with M. Necker and the

234 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XI.

Committee of Subsistence. He says that M. Necker will
treat with me for wheat at six shillings, but I can obtain
six shillings and sixpence, and that he has fixed an inter
view for me with Necker at seven this evening. He is
obliged to go abroad, therefore desires me to consider of
the means of execution, and call on him before I go to M.
Necker's. After a walk through the Champs Elysees, I
go to the Palais Royal and dine with the Duchess of
Orleans. Thence to the Louvre to get a ticket, which the
Bishop was to procure for the Assemblee of to-morrow.
Receive it, and go to M. Le Coulteux's. Converse about
the means of executing a contract, if any is made. He
cannot furnish credit or money, etc. See M. Necker.
He, I find, expects from me a pointed proposal, and tells
me that M. Le Coulteux had named the quantity I would
deliver, the price, and the terms. I tell him there is some
misunderstanding, and take my leave."

" This morning [November 2oth] I rise early and go to
the Assemblee. Stay there till four. A tedious session,
from which I derived a violent headache. Mirabeau and
Dupont are the two speakers on M. Necker's plan who
command the most attention, but neither of them, in my
opinion, derives honor from the manner of treating it.
Probably it will be adopted, and if so, it will be, I think,
fatal to their finances, and completely derange them for
some time to come. Sup at Madame de Stael's ; give her
my opinion of the speeches of this morning, and show
one or two things in which M. Dupont was mistaken.
She does not like this, because he supported her father's
plan, which she declares to be necessary."

"Dine to-day [November 24th] with the Prince de
Broglio. The Comte de Segur dines with us. A pleasant
company. The Bishop is of the number. After dinner I
give him some hints as to the objection made by many to

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 235

the opposers of M. Necker's plan, because they do not
come forward with a better. Go from hence to M. Neck
er's. The mayor and the Committee of Subsistence waiting
to speak with him. Send in my name, and in consequence
he comes out to the antechamber. I tell him that I can
not undertake to furnish him with wheat ; that I must
either ask for it an extravagant price or risk a loss ; that
I do not choose the first, and will not incur the second ;
that if he has any other plan for obtaining it, in which I
can be useful, he may command me. He is a little disap
pointed at this intelligence. Leave him, and pay my re
spects to Madame Necker. Leave here and go to the
Louvre. The insurgents in Brabant seem to be in a fair
way to success. The Imperialists are in possession of
Bruxelles only, and are besieged there. Madame de Fla-
haut, as becomes a faithful ally to the Emperor, quells all
insurgency on my part. Shortly after M. de Thiard comes
in. He gives us some account of what has passed in
Brittany. Among other things, it happened that the mu
nicipalities quarrelled about subsistence, and the matter
went so far as to use force on each side. Each in con
sequence gave orders to a regiment to march against
the other, for in each a regiment happened to be quar
tered. Luckily, a compromise took place ; but this is the
first-fruits of the new constitution of armies and municipal
ities. There will be many others of the like kind, for, when
mankind are resolved to disregard as vulgar prejudice
every principle which has hitherto been established by
experience for the government of man, endless inconsist
encies must be expected. Sup here. Make tea for Ma
dame de Laborde. Madame de Flahaut complains that
she has not a handsome sugar-dish for her tea-equipage.
This is by way of introduction to the story that she (who
pretends to be very avaricious) would not accept of one

236 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XI.

as a present from me, and that Madame de Laborde, who
pretends to be disinterested, accepted a handsome cup
and saucer. In fact, the latter was done in consequence
of her urgency. I insist that this conduct arises from
pure malice, and write with my pencil the following :

Clara, your avarice you boast,

And boast, too, your good nature ;
I know not which you prize the most,

I guess which is the greater.

The proffered present you refuse,

But make your friend receive ;
For what she takes you her abuse,

And me, for what you leave.

This has been a fine day, clear but cold. The ice remained
all day in the shade."

" Go to see [November 26th] Madame de Brehan and
M. de Moustier, who are just returned from America.
Converse with her a considerable time, always inquiring
news of my country, and she desirous of obtaining the
state of her own ; natural on both sides, but of course
much variegated. M. de Moustier has much to say about
the American debt, and gives reason to believe that no
bargain can be made for it. I call on the Marechal de
Segur, who is ill with the gout. Some conversation about
the proposed reduction of the pensions. I disapprove of
it, and this disapprobation, which with me is sincere, suits
very well with the ideas of the Marechal, who is one of the
most considerable pensioners. See De Moustier again to
night at Madame de La Suze's. He is now well pleased
with America and believes in her good disposition and
resources ; is charged with the request on her part that
this Court will make no negotiation whatever for the debt,
but will postpone the instalments for three years longer,
and then the interest beginning with the next year shall
be regularly provided for. I tell him that I think M.

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 237

Necker's plan of borrowing on it in Holland is liable to a
great objection ; viz., that the Dutch will not probably
lend without being so authorized on the part of the
United States as to have a claim upon them, because
otherwise the Government of America might pay the
amount to France, and refuse to pay anything to Dutch
individuals. He says he has already spoken to the Comte
de Montmorin on this subject, and to some members of
the States-General ; that he will speak also to M. Necker
whenever he desires it. This will certainly interfere with
our former plan, and oblige us either to change or to
abandon it. After a long conversation with him, and much
amity from him and the Marquise, I take my leave.

"See M. Laurent Le Coulteux and tell him the plan
which has been digested, of offering for the debt to France
as much of the French stocks as would produce the same
interest. He is so pleased with it that he offers himself to
be the negotiator, provided he can have sufficient security
in Holland. This is vastly obliging. Agree to meet at
Cantaleu's this evening. Go to Van Staphorst's. Tell
him the objection brought by Moustier to the negotia
tion which M. Necker has proposed in Holland. He tells
us a proposition made to him by Lafayette to act as spy
for discovery of intrigues of the aristocratic party, by
which, says Lafayette, a civil war may be prevented. We
advise Van Staphorst to decline that honorable mission.
Parker adds that it should be declined verbally, so as to
leave no written trace of the negotiation. I leave them
together and return home to dress. The Comte de Lux
embourg comes in and tells me a great deal of news, which
I forget as fast as I hear it. He has a world of projects,
too, but I give him one general opinion upon the whole,
that he and his friends had better take measures for influ
encing the next elections. This afternoon I see Canta-

238 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XI.

leu ; he seems to think that De Moustier's intelligence is
fatal to our project. We have a great deal of useless talk ;
at length it ends with my desire to Cantaleu that he
should find out the impression made by De Moustier,
and my promise to talk to Necker on the subject.

" Dine at the Louvre with Madame de Flahaut. The
Bishop and his intimate friend, the Due de Biron, are of
the party. The Bishop asks my opinion of the American
debt. I tell him that I think well of it ; it is a debt which
ought to be paid. The Due de Biron says that he thinks
it will be paid, and I agree with him in opinion. I tell the
Bishop that there is a proposition to be presented to M.
Necker for liquidation of it with French effets bearing
an equivalent interest. He thinks that the offer ought to
be accepted. After dinner, visit the Comte de Montmorin ;
mention to him the proposition of paying the debt with
effets. He desires money. He says that they have no
doubt of receiving payment from the United States, but
that they want now to receive money."

"The Comte de Luxembourg comes [November 28th],
and detains me a long time for nothing. Tells me, however,
that the party of the Nobles are determined to be quiet.
This is the only wise conduct. A message from Madame
Necker to dine with her ; I presume that this is for the
purpose of talking about a supply of wheat which I en
gaged for. Go to M. Necker's, and am introduced into his
cabinet. He broaches a conversation on the constitution.
I declare my opinion that what they are now framing is
good for nothing, and assign my reasons. He makes some
inquiries respecting the American Constitution, which I
reply to. Ask him about wheat and tell him the manner
in which I would have executed a contract for it had I
conceived such contract prudent. I tell him that I shall
lose by the contract for flour, but that nevertheless it shall

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 239

be executed. Ask him how he stands as to his loan in
Holland. He says he has some propositions. I tell him
that I shall make him some which will be agreeable, per
haps, and then go into the salon, that he may read a long
piece of writing just put into his hands. Madame de
Stael comes in, who reproaches me for forsaking her ; I
apologize, and promise to sup next Wednesday. We have
a good deal of random conversation. Dine, and after din
ner tell M. Necker that a person from London gives me
information respecting the debt which, added to other
things, will enable me to make him a good offer when he
has finished with other people. He says we will talk
about it in his cabinet when I go away. We retire thith
er, and then I offer him as much of capital in their rentes
perpetudles as will make the interest of i,6oo,ooof. now
payable by the United States. He thinks the proposition
a good one, but says he must have half money. I tell
him no, that is too much ; he says the sacrifice of the in
terest is too great, and will expose the bargain to severe
criticism. He seems to think that the report of Moustier
is not of sufficient weight to prevent the prosecution of
his plan in Holland. We finally part, he saying we must
wait."

"To-day [December ist] I prepare a note to make M.
Necker an offer for the debt, which I think he cannot re
fuse. Dine with M. Boutin ;* pretty large company and a
very good dinner — ires recherche". I have a good deal of con
versation with the Comte de Moustier. He is preparing

* M. Boutin, who had filled the offices of Collector General of the Revenue,
Councillor of State, and Paymaster of the Navy, had made, at an enormous
expense, a garden, which he called " Tivoli," but for which the popular
appellation was La Folie-Boutin. It was a ravishing garden, with surprises
in the way of grottoes, shrubbery, and statues at every turn, and a pavilion
furnished with princely luxury. In this bewildering place M. Boutin gave
suppers no less sumptuous than the surroundings.

240 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XI.

a letter about the American debt, and shows me the heads
of it. I tell him my plan, though not in detail, and he likes
it because it tends to defeat the views of M. Duer and his
associates, Claviere and Warville. I hear that Mr. Short
is much pleased that I have determined to propose a plan,
and will call on me to-morrow. The Marquis de Lafa
yette has spoken to Necker, and the latter has promised not
to conclude any agreement without a previous communi
cation to Mr. Short. Arrive very late at the Louvre.
Communicate to the Bishop my plan for the debt, which
I tell him I will show him, and which, if refused by M.
Necker, may probably come before the Assembly. On
Thursday evening we are to meet at Madame de Flahaut's,
to consider the discourse he will pronounce on Friday
morning."

"This morning [December 2d] Mr. Short calls and I
show him the proposition I mean to make to M. Necker.
He is much pleased with it. I tell him that if he approves
of it I wish he would undertake to recommend it to the
United States, as he must see that it will promote their
interest. He tells me that his recommendation can have
but little weight, as I must know, but that, if necessary,
he will urge the adoption of it here. He presses me to
make the proposition immediately. I tell him that I
mean to show it to Lafayette, and for that purpose to dine
with him. He likes this. He sets me down at Lafa
yette's, who arrives sooner than usual from the Hotel de
Ville, and has but little company. I communicate my
plan, which he also is pleased with. I then tell him
something of the Bishop d'Autun's plan. He tells me
that the Bishop is to call upon him Friday evening. He
says that Necker must be kept for the sake of his name."

" Have much conversation to-day [December 3d] with
various persons on speculations they propose in the debt.

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 241

Dine at the Palais Royal at a restaurateur's. Dr. Senf tells
me that the affairs of Brabant are going on well, that the
other Imperial provinces will soon join, that a declaration
of independence will be the immediate consequence, and
that a treaty with England and Prussia will speedily fol
low. This I believe, because it is probable. Take Ma
dame de Flahaut to the Comedie Frangaise. Return to
the Louvre. The Bishop comes in, according to agree
ment. He asks my opinion whether or not to speak to
morrow in the Assemblee, and tells me the substance of
what he means to say. I make some observations on the
heads of his discourse. Advise him to speak, but confine
himself as much as possible to the line of objections ;
add some reasons to be given to the Assemblee for not pro
posing a plan. Urge him to treat the Caisse d'Escompte
with great tenderness; to blame the administrators as
such for their imprudence in lending the Government
more than their capital, but excuse them at the same time
as citizens for their patriotism ; treat the arrearage to them
beyond the first loan of 70,000,000 f. as a sacred debt, de
manding preference of all others ; criticise M. Necker's
plan very lightly if it is like to fall, but if he thinks it will
be adopted, very severely ; to deal much in predictions as
to the fatal effects of paper money, the agiotage (stock-job
bing) which must ensue, and the prostration of morals
arising from that cause ; finally, the danger which must
follow to the public, and the advantage to a future admin
istrator who shall think proper to speculate in the paper
or funds ; that these observations become him as a clergy
man and as a statesman, and they will be the more proper
as his enemies charge him with sinister designs of this
sort. He goes away to consider, as he says, whether he
shall say anything. I urge again that, when he comes into
the ministry, he will want the Caisse d'Escompte, and tell
16

242 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XI.

him at the same time to remove from the mind of Lafayette
the idea that he is connected with the Duke of Orleans."

" Go to M. de Montmorin's [December 4th] and meet, ac
cording to appointment, the Comte de Moustier and Ma
dame de Brehan. Show him my proposition intended for M.
Necker. He seems not fully to approve. I rather think that
he withholds assent because he thinks it like to be very suc
cessful, but I may be deceived. At going away the Comte
de Montmorin asks why I depart so soon. I tell him that
I am going to M. Necker's, etc. ; that if he chooses I will
communicate to him my proposition, not as a minister but
as a friend. He asks to see it, examines it with attention,
requires explanations, and finally approves it much, and
offers to speak to M. Necker on the subject. I desire him
not, lest M. Necker should think I have been deficient in
respect. Go to M. Necker's ; he is gone to council. Con
verse with Madame in such a way as to please her. She
asks me to dine to-morrow. I mention my prior engage
ment, but say I will come after dinner, as I wish to see M.
Necker. She tells me I had better corne to dinner. I
will if I can. Go to the opera. After a while the Comte
de Luxembourg comes into the loge. He has something
to say of politics. I take Madame de Flahaut home.
The Comte de Luxembourg comes in ; he takes her aside
and has a conversation, the purport whereof is to offer to
the Bishop the support of the aristocratic faction. I doubt
much his being authorized to make this offer. Leave them
together, and go to Madame de StaeTs. Music here. She
sings and does everything to impress the heart of the
Comte de Segur. Her lover, De Narbonne, is returned.
Segur assures me of his fidelity to his wife. I join heart
ily in praise of her, and truly assure him that I love her as
much for her children as for her own sake, and she is cer
tainly a very lovely woman. After supper De Narbonne

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 243

tells us that he is authorized by Franche Comte to accuse
the Comitt des Recherches. This committee is very like
what was called in the State of New York the Tory Com
mittee, of which Duer was a leading memb.er, a committee
for detecting and defeating all conspiracies, etc. Thus it
is that mankind in similar situations always adopt a corre
spondent conduct. I had some conversation before sup
per with the Comte de Segur, who disapproves of the
Bishop's oration, and so, indeed, do most others. And
they blame particularly those things which I had advised
him to alter. He has something of the author about him.
But the tender attachment to our literary productions is
by no means suitable to a minister : to sacrifice great ob
jects for the sake of small ones is an inverse ratio of moral
proportion. Leave Madame de StaeTs early. Set down
M. de Bonnet, who tells me that I am to succeed Mr.
Jefferson. I tell him that if the place is offered it will be
difficult for me not to accept, but that I wish it may not
be offered."

" This morning [December 5th], Mr. Parker calls and
tells me that Necker will treat upon the terms I am to
propose. He says that he is convinced, from the conver
sation he has had with Ternant, that Necker would not
have been permitted to deal for the debt under par, and
that therefore no agreement could have taken effect un
less concluded privately. Go to Madame Necker's to
dine. Madame de Stael comes in, and at the instigation
of her husband asks me to dine next Wednesday. At
dinner we converse pretty freely of political subjects and,
in consequence of an observation I make, Necker exclaims
in English, ' Ridiculous nation ! ' He does not know that
my servant understands English. After dinner in the
salon I take him aside, to ask if he has considered my
proposition. He tells me that a Colonel Ternant has a

244 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XI.

plan. I tell him that the one I now give is the same, that
my last proposition was the utmost that the houses here
would agree to, and therefore what I now offer is without
their participation. He asks if we are prepared to lay
down the French effets. I tell him no. He says he can
not listen to propositions which give him no solid secu
rity. I reply that no house in Europe is sufficient for so
large a sum, and therefore security as such is nonsense,
but that he shall run no risk, for he shall not part with
the effets till he receives payment. He objects that he
will still have no certainty of the payment, and wants to
know how I shall make the operation. I tell him that it
is by means of our connections in America and in Hol
land, that we can do the business better than he can, and
therefore we can give him better terms than he can ob
tain from others. He insists that the proposition shall be
supported by solid security before he will consider it ; I
tell him that this is not just, that there are two points for
his consideration : First, whether the offer is good, and,
secondly, whether he is sufficiently secured ; that if the
offer is not good, it is useless to talk of security, but if it
be such as he ought to accept, then it will be proper to
know what kind of responsibility will be sufficient. In
the meantime it would render me ridiculous to ask secu
rity for performance of a bargain not made. To this he
replies that if I once get his promise I shall make use of
it as a ground to negotiate upon and go about knocking
at the doors of different people. This is not a very deli
cate comparison. I reply in a tone of dissatisfaction,
mingled perhaps with a little pride, that I shall knock at
no doors but such as are already open to me. Our con
versation is loud, he makes it so purposely, and at this
point Madame de Stael, with the good-natured intention
of avoiding ill-humor, desires me to send her father to sit

1789-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 245

next to her. I tell her, smiling, that it is a dangerous
task to send away M. Necker, and those who tried it once
had sufficient cause to repent it. This latter observation
brings back good-humor, and he seems inclined to talk
further with me, but I take no further notice of him, and,
after chatting a little with different people, I take leave.
Go to Parker's and tell him what has passed, which of
course disappoints him not a little. We consider of what
is next to be done, and, after canvassing the matter a good
deal, agree that we will sleep upon it, and give him time
to cool."

" This morning [December 6th] Mr. Parker comes and
tells me that Colonel Ternant says Necker shall be
forced to accept the proposition. He will meet me this
day at the Comte de Montmorin's at dinner. Go to Ma
dame de Flahaut's. We converse on affairs ; the Bishop re
grets much that he did not follow my advice. She cen
sured severely last night his advisers, in the presence of
M. de Suzeval, who is one of the principal ones. He ac
knowledged that he had done wrong, and regretted his
weakness. The Comte de Luxembourg, who was to have
been of her party for dinner, sends an apology, and we
then agree that I shall stay and dine in order to converse
with the Bishop about Laborde's plan of finance. The
Bishop arrives, and tells me what has passed on the sub
ject. It appears that M. Laborde has behaved with mean
ness and treachery. The plan is Panchaut's. It was de
livered to Laborde by the Bishop to consider of the
practicability in a pecuniary point of view, and with a
declaration that he desired to obtain by that means a pro
vision for Panchauts family, who are indigent. After
many conferences, Laborde declared that the two hundred
millions required could not be obtained. In consequence
the Bishop made the declarations contained in his speech,

246 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XI.

and M. Laborde came forward the next day with his plan,
which requires three hundred millions, and criticised what
had been said by his friend. The plan seems to be very
much like what I had thought of, and Madame de Fla-
haut, to whom I had given this morning a few outlines of
my scheme, was astonished at the resemblance or, rather,
at the identity. Consider some notes, etc., which the
Bishop is about to add to his speech now in press. I
then communicate to him my plan for the American debt.
But first I ask whether a caisse d'escompte will be
established, and whether the American debt will be trans
ferred to it as a part of the fund. He tells me that he thinks
both will be done. I tell him that I wish they may, and then
state to him M. Necker's conversation with me, and remark
on the folly of asking from an individual adequate secu
rity to the amount of forty millions. He agrees with me
entirely, and I think that M. Necker will sooner or later
have reason to regret that he treated my offer with so
much contempt. Immediately after dinner I go to M. de
Montmorin's. He is engaged in conversation with a gen
tleman who detains him until he is obliged to retire to his
bureau. Go and sit with Madame de Corney some time,
and explain the nature of my agreement for flour, as I
find that De Corney had been informed of a contract I had
made with the city and which does not exist. He might
have supposed that I did not deal candidly with him. Go
hence to Madame Dumolley's. Some political conversa
tion, with a degree of heat that is inconceivable among so
polite a people. Thence to the Louvre, where I stay till
near twelve. A large company. I tell the Bishop what
has passed with De Cantaleu, for which he is much obliged
to me."

"To-day [December 8th], while I am calling on M. de
Montmorin, who is trying to discover Necker's reasons

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 247

against the proposition, De Moustier comes in. He says
that he has just delivered a letter to the porter on the sub
ject of the American debt ; that all negotiation upon it
must be deferred. I think he has endeavored to throw
cold water on my plan. Tell Colonel Ternant so, who says
that he should equally oppose it in any other circum
stances, but that the distresses of France form a sufficient
reason now for the adoption."

" On Wednesday at three I dine with Madame de Stae'l.
After dinner M. Clermont-Tonnerre reads us a discourse
he intends to deliver in the Assemblee. It is very elo
quent and much admired. I make, however, one or two
observations on the reasoning, which bring the company
to an opinion adverse to his. He goes away mortified,
and thus I think I have made an enemy. We shall see.
Go to the Carrousel, and stay till twelve. The company is
large and I employ the time in reading. The Comte de
Luxembourg tells me that some persons meditate a mas
sacre of the King, Queen, and Nobles. I tell him that I
do not believe it."

"To-day [December i2th], dine with the Duchess at the
Palais Royal. Afterwards take Madame de Flahaut to
the opera — * Didon,' with the ' Chercheuse d'esprit,' a ballet.
These form anything except rational amusement. M.
Necker's chief clerk, who was the other day at M. de Mont-
morin's, assured M. de Montmorin that he thought my
proposal for the debt such as the minister ought to adopt.
A small company at the Louvre ; we sup, and I leave them
together at play. The Bishop d'Autun says the committee
have been engaged all this evening with M. Necker in
considering how one hundred and thirty millions of paper
can be issued with the least inconveniency. The affairs
are in a sad condition indeed, and I think they will not
mend speedily."

248 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XI.

" After dinner to-day [December i3th], go to the Lou
vre and find my amiable friend in tears. She has been to
see her religieuse, who is ill and suffering from a scorbutic
complaint, and suffering from the neglect of her sister
nuns also. She reproaches herself with not having been
to pay her a visit for several days, by which means she
was ignorant of her situation. She has given orders for a
better treatment. I administer all the consolation in my
power, and that consists first in sympathy, which is very
sincere ; then in attenuating the evil. I then take her to
the opera, and leave her there."

"At Madame de Chastellux's to-day [December i4th],
we have a large breakfast party, and the Abbe Delille
reads or rather repeats to us some of his verses, which are
fine and well delivered. Go to the Louvre. The Bishop
is there ; he mentions a plan for issuing billets d1 Etat bear
ing interest. I show him the folly of such a measure.
He says it is a plan of Montesquiou's, to which I reply
that, as none of the plans likely to be adopted are good
they may as well take that of M. Necker, since otherwise
they enable his friends to say that the mischief arises from
not having followed his advice ; that, besides, if paper
money be issued, that of the Caisse is quite as good as
any other. He says that by taking a bad step France
may be ruined. I tell him that is impossible, and he may
tranquillize himself about it ; that whenever they resort to
taxation credit will be restored, and, the credit once re
stored, it will be easy to put the affairs of the Caisse in
order. Go to the Palais Royal, not having been able to
leave Madame de Flahaut till four. I arrive when dinner
is half over. After dinner the Abbe Delille entertains
us with some further repetitions. Go to club, and thence
to the Comte de Moustier's. Sit a while with him, and Ma
dame de Brehan. Go together to Madame de Puisignieu's.

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 249

Spend the evening. Conversation chiefly with De Mous-
tier. I find that, notwithstanding public professions as
to the public proceedings of America, both De Moustier
and Madame de Brehan have a thorough dislike to the
country and its inhabitants. The society of New York is
not sociable, the provisions of America are not good, the
climate is very damp, the wines are abominable, the peo
ple are excessively indolent."

250 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XII.

CHAPTER XII.

The opera. Gardell and Vestris. Strictures on the character of the peo
ple of France. The Caisse Patriotique opened. Paris gay with uni
forms. People sacrifice their jewels for the public benefit. Morris
disapproves of Necker's plan of finance. Resolutions passed in the
Assembly which affect Protestants. The public debt. The king's
brother goes to the Commons. Monsieur and the Favras conspiracy.
Lafayette intriguing deeply. Morris makes punch for the society
at Madame de Vannoise's. His first suggestion of settling the
banks of the St. Lawrence. Asked for information about America.
Ceremony of saluting the ladies with a kiss on New Year's eve.

THE opera to-night [December i5th] is a new one,
and very good. I take Madame de Flahaut to en
joy it with me. It has as little of the inevitable evil of an
opera as can easily'be supposed, but the radical vices re
main ; the scenery is fine. After the opera, Gardell and
then Vestris exhibit their muscular genius. The latter
seems almost to step on air. It is a prodigious piece of
human mechanism. Take M. and Madame Robert (the
painter) from the opera, and go afterwards to the Louvre.
M. St. Priest is here. We are to sup trio. The Vicomte
de St. Priest comes in — a coxcomb, and, what is worse, an
old one. The conversation is dull."

"To-day [December i6th] I hear that the Comte de
Montmorin says M. Necker is ready to accept my pro
posal as soon as a solid house in Europe will come for
ward with the offer ; that the plan I have offered suits
(as M. de Montmorin says) this government exactly, and
must be very well if it suits the United States as well. At
Madame de Laborde's I am introduced to Madame d'Houde-

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 2$ I

tot, who is the protectrice of Crevecceur, who is much
courted by the academicians, who was the only beloved
of Rousseau, who had at the same time another lover, a
happy one, and who is, I think, one of the ugliest women
I ever saw, even without her squint, which is of the worst
kind.

" Madame de Flahaut tells me to-night that Montesquieu
will propose to-morrow a plan of finance, which consists
in issuing a large sum of billets d' Etat bearing interest ;
but if the report of the committee to be made by Le Can-
taleu is adopted by acclamation, Montesquiou will be
silent. He and the Bishop were with her this evening
and they discussed the matter together. She asks my
opinion. I tell her it is good for nothing, and give one or
two reasons. I add that the more reasonable their plan,
the more unreasonable is their conduct in offering it.
But the character of this country is precipitation, not
to mention the vaulting ambition which o'erleaps itself.
There is, besides, a spur to prick the sides of their intent
with all the sharpness of necessity, for both these gentle
men are not a little out at elbows. The Marquis de Mon
tesquiou comes in. He tells me the plan of finance re
ported by the committee and that which he means to move
in substitution. The first is complicated, and it would
seem that the farmers have, by bewildering, convinced
themselves. The second is simple, but liable to a little ob
jection which the author had overlooked ; I state it. He
endeavors to obviate it ; in effect, he feels attached to his
plan, which is natural, but if adopted, I think it will work
evil to him as well as to the country, for the paper money
must depreciate. He asks whether, in my opinion, the
paper proposed by the committee will sustain its value. I
tell him no, but that he had better let the plan of his op
ponents do the mischief. He seems to be convinced

252 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XII.

against his will, and therefore, according to ' Hudibras,' is,
I presume, of the same opinion still."

On the 1 7th of December the report of the ten com
missioners was presented to the Assembly. On the ipth,
Morris says : " The Bishop just come from the Assem-
blee ; says they have passed tumultuously the plan of
the committee grounded on the plan of M. Necker. He
seems much dissatisfied with it." Necker's plan adopted,
the Caisse Patriotique was opened, and into it flowed
every imaginable thing, of great or small value — precious
stones, articles of jewellery, "mouches" boxes, some time
since abandoned by the ladies. Great ladies sacrificed their
jewels, and adorned themselves with ribbons instead.
Madame de Genlis and Madame de Bulard, to give em
phasis to their patriotic feelings, wore pieces of the stone
of the Bastille set in laurel leaves, pinned on with a forest
of ribbons of the three colors. The king and queen con
tributed their share, in gold plates and dishes of great
value. A spasm of generosity possessed all ranks, and
rivalled the soldier fever, which for months had been
strong, and had filled the streets of Paris with the most
fantastic costumes imaginable, of which red, green, and
gold epaulets were a brilliant feature. Each district had
its distinctive color and mode, but all united in car
rying the tricolor, in the manufacture of which all the
available material in Paris seems to have been sacrificed.
During the last month of 1789 a loan of eighty millions
was made to the Caisse d'Escompte. As to the new plan,
the diary says :

"At Madame de Segur's this morning [December 2oth]
her brother, M. d'Aguesseau asked my opinion of the new
plan of finance. I gave it very candidly, but find from
Madame Chastellux this evening that it made a very som
bre impression upon his mind. M. de Montmorin tells

J789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 253

me that M. Necker is pleased with my proposition, and
willing to treat with me, provided I can show that I am au
thorized by persons of sufficient property in Europe to
create a due responsibility. I communicate to him what
passed with M. Necker, and, if I can judge rightly of this
conversation, the Count at least (and probably M. Necker)
is desirous of bringing this business to a conclusion. He
asks me if he may speak to M. Necker about it. I tell
him yes, and that I will take an opportunity one day to
call at M. Necker's coffee, and converse with him if he
chooses."

"The Assemblee passed to-day [December 24th] a reso
lution which gives the Protestants admission (by neces
sary implication) to the offices of state. The Bishop is
much pleased with it, but said nothing in its support. I
advise him to have his conduct remarked in some of the
journals, because that his order is already against him,
and therefore he must secure the interest of those who are
against his order."

" M. de Moustier tells me to-day [December 25th] that
some persons were arrested last night in consequence of a
plot formed to assassinate M. de Lafayette, M. Bailly, and
M. Necker, and to carry the King off into Picardy. I don't
believe a word of the plot. It will, however, serve a certain
purpose to the inventors. Moustier tells me further that
Necker is prepared to accept my offer, and vaunts much
his services in the business, all which I know how to esti
mate at the just value. The conversation at Madame de
Chastellux's this Christmas evening is sensible, but not mar-
quante. The Comtesse de Segur tells me that M. du
Fresne, who is M. Necker's right-hand man, says that his
chief is not equal to his business. The Duchess comes in,
and Mr. Short. I tell him of Moustier's eagerness to show
his utility to America, and add that certainly if the plan

254 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XII.

takes effect it must be attributed to him, Parker, and myself.
Go to Madame de Guibert's to supper. After supper a
question is agitated respecting the Dauphin, father to
Louis Seize and the Due de Choiseul, which leads to the
subject of poisons. M. de Laborde mentions a very ex
traordinary kind of poison as being notorious, and de
tailed in the dictionary of medicines. It consists in fat
tening a hog with portions of arsenic, and then distilling
his flesh, which gives a poisonous water of slow but sure
effect. He appeals, then, to the Count de Thiare for the
truth of this extraordinary fact. A lady at court asked
for a glass of water. It was brought, and she drank it.
Immediately she burst into tears, declaring that she was
poisoned, and told the King, ' It is that villain/ point
ing to one of his attendants, 'who has done it.' The
King rallied her on the subject, but she went away greatly
distressed, and died in about eight days. The person she
had designated asked leave, in the interim, to go and look
after his affairs in Savoie, went off, and was never heard
of. We afterwards get upon finance, and M. de Guibert,
who loves to hear himself talk, says a good deal to prove
that he knows but little. He is, however, a violent Neck-
erist. I leave this house before twelve, being not very
well. It has been a fine day, but Paris, on this great fes
tival of the nativity, shows how much she has fallen by
the revolution. The paper of the Caisse keeps going
down, and is now at two per cent, discount. The actions
also fall fast, which is very natural."

"A member of the Committee of Finance mentions at the
club to-day [December 26th] that the totality of the public
debt here is about 4,700,000,000!, including herein all re
imbursements of charges of every kind, and calculating
the viaglres [life annuities] at ten years' purchase ; that it
may amount, perhaps, to 4,800,000,0001., that is, to 200,000,-

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 255

ooo pounds sterling. This, then, is the extreme of a burthen
which this kingdom totters under. The Abbe d'Espagnac
insists that it is not so much by a great deal. While the dis
pute on this subject is at its height, a gentleman arrives
who communicates the extraordinary intelligence that
Monsieur, the King's brother, has been to the Commons
and made a speech on the subject of a charge circulated
against him yesterday, that he was at the head of the sup
posed plot against M. Bailly and M. de Lafayette. Go to
Madame de Chastellux's. While there the Chevalier de
Graave brings us Monsieur's speech. It is very well writ
ten, but has the fault of calling himself a citizen, and,
again, his audience fellow-citizens. Go to the Louvre.
Madame tells the history of this speech. Monsieur yes
terday, upon hearing of the slander, applied to the Due de
Livi, who, not knowing what advice to give him, applied
to the Bishop d'Autun, who made the speech for him.
This morning Monsieur applied to the King, and asked
him if he meant to send another of his brothers out of the
kingdom ; then went on to complain of the slander. This
touches Lafayette, who has too many of these little matters
on the anvil. It was then determined that Monsieur should
go to the Ville, etc."

"At half-past two [December 27th] visit Madame de
Flahaut. The Bishop d'Autun is there. She reads me a
letter he has written to the author of the Courrier de
r Europe explaining his plan. I make to him sundry ob
servations concerning it, but refuse to take it with me and
make notes. After he is gone she asks me not to men
tion to Lafayette, as was intended, the archiepiscopacy
of Paris for the Bishop d'Autun, but to show the advan
tages which may be derived from the step taken by Mon
sieur. Go to M. de Lafayette's. After dinner I speak
to Lafayette about Monsieur's speech to the Commons.

256 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XII.

He takes Short* and me into his closet. Tells us that for
a long time he has had information of a plot ; that he
has followed the track, and at length took up M. de
Favras ; that on M. de Favras was found a letter from
Monsieur which seemed to show that he was but too deep
ly concerned in it ; that he had immediately waited upon
him with that letter, which he delivered, telling Monsieur
that it was known only to him and M. Bailly — consequent
ly, that he was not compromised ; that Monsieur was
much rejoiced at this intelligence ; that yesterday morn
ing, however, he sent for him, and, being surrounded by
his courtiers, spoke in high terms respecting a note which
had been circulated the evening before charging him
with being at the head of the conspiracy. Lafayette told
him that he knew of but one way to discover the authors,
which was by offering a reward, which should be done ;
that Monsieur then declared his determination to go to
the town-house in the afternoon, and that in consequence
due preparation was made to receive him when he should
come ; that he came, and pronounced the speech we have
seen, which was written by Mirabeau, whom he considers
as an abandoned rascal. Every man is dear to himself.
All the world knew Mirabeau to be a rascal when Lafa
yette connected himself with him ; but it is in this moment
only that he feels the misery of such a connection. I re
mind him of the warnings I had given with respect to
Mirabeau, and add the intelligence which the Comte de
Luxembourg desired me to convey ; viz., that Mirabeau
had sworn he would ruin Lafayette. I then tell him that
this step of Monsieur's has thrown the cards into his hands ;
that he has placed himself at the head of the revolution,
in which place he ought to be kept, because, if there

* William Short, charge d'affaires during Jefferson's official residence at
Paris, was at this time the only representative of the United States in Paris.

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 257

should happen any counter-revolution, he secures the heads
of all others against accidents, and if the revolution is
fully effected, the nullity of his character will of course se
clude him from all weight and authority. He relishes
this idea. I then take the opportunity to inculcate upon
his mind anew the advantage of an administration whose
characters are fair, which appears strongly in the case of
M. Necker, to whose probity everything is pardoned. He
feels conviction, but it will not last. His temper is turned
towards intrigue and must unite itself to them of similar
disposition. At going away I ask him if he sees often the
gentleman I presented to him. He says that he does not.
Mentions, however, his name (the Bishop d'Autun), which
I did not intend, and tells me that he desired to have given
him the King's library, with the Abbe de Sieyes * under
him, as a step toward r Education nationale, which is the
Bishop's hobby-horse. I undertake to make this com
munication at his request. Visit Madame de Chastellux.
She tells me that Monsieur is not much applauded in so
ciety, that is, in good company. I am not at all surprised
at this. Go from hence to Madame de Laborde's, having
first written a little extempore address to the Duchess as
from Madame de Chastellux, to whom she had presented
a small clock comme dtrennes :

To show how the minutes glide swiftly away,

Dear Princess, a present you send ;
Oh come, by your presence this loss to repay,

Oh come at the call of your friend.

Your goodness has taught me those moments to prize,

Your kindness their value bestows,
And my love, like the bounty which beams from your eyes,

Each moment more fervently glows."

* Abbe Sieyes, a central figure through all the years of the French Revolu
tion, from the moment of writing, in 1789, the brochure entitled, " Qu'est-ce
que le Tiers Etat," until ten years later he was dismissed and placed in the

'7

258 DTARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XII.

" Dine to-day [December 30th] with the Duchesse d'Or-
leans. Take tea with Madame de Chastellux a'nd then go
to Madame d'Houdetot's. Her lover, M. de St. Lambert,
is here. Conversation is sensible and agreeable enough,
but I think I shall not go often. Of all Cupid's maga
zines the least valuable, in my opinion, is his cabinet of
antiquities. Have a conversation with M. de Montmorin
and chat a while with the ladies, and, observing some al
manacs on the chimney-piece, I take out my pencil and
address a few lines to Madame de Beaumont, his daugh
ter :

How days and months and years succeed,

Clara, you here behold ;
But while you look on this, take heed,

Both you and I grow old.

Those days which come, the past destroy,

Do not too long delay ;
For every hour, not spent in joy,

Is so much thrown away.

She is more pleased with this than she expresses, for the
moral is rather to be adopted than approved. Go hence
to a party at Madame de Vannoise's. The intention, I find,
is to hear the harmonica and drink punch. I am requested
to mix that liquor and, in order that my glasses may pro
duce equal music with those of the performer, I make it
very strong. Madame de Laborde comes and sits next to
me, with M. Bonnet. I repeat to her the lines I had writ
ten for Madame de Beaumont. She, of course, objects to
the liberality of the sentiment, and M. Bonnet, who is to
judge and can understand English only by the eye, though

hands of Bonaparte. The constitution he drew for France was conceived
with a view of transforming the popular beliefs and principles ; beginning a
new order of things, not working to perfect the old. He was of bourgeois
birth.

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 259

he has translated 'Tristram Shandy,' gives me his pencil
and a piece of paper. I address to her a demonstration
of my theme instead of copying what I had written :

You find my morals somewhat free,

But why enthral the mind ?
The truest doctrine, trust to me,

Is nature unconfined.

What she commands let us obey,

Nor strive to be too pure ;
All human maxims lead astray

And only hers are sure.

I do not not know whether this is exact, but it is con
venient, and will, I know, be more strictly followed by
those who condemn it than by the author. A reputation
either good or bad as to morals is easily acquired. To
judge a man by his actions requires a degree of attention
which few have a right to expect, and few are willing to
pay. It is much more convenient to judge from the con
versation than from the conduct.

" At the club to-day we have a strange story of a
sentinel stabbed, and the instruments left behind in
scribed, 'Va-t'en attendre Fayette.' I profess, as usual,
my disbelief. Go to the Louvre. The Due de Biron,
1'Eveque d'Autun, and M. de St. Foi, who dined here,
are still with Madame, who is dressing to go to the
Comedie. I am vexed at this. The Bishop and M. de St.
Foi retire to a consultation, which is, I suppose, about his
letter to the Conrrier de r Europe ; when that is finished, I
tell the Bishop what Lafayette had desired me to com
municate. I add that I did not mention the archbishopric
because Madame desired me not, but more because, not
withstanding the fair opportunity, I persisted in the opin
ion transmitted by her, for which I had not, however, given

26O DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XII.

to her the reasons ; that I think he should speak first him
self, because he is of too elevated a rank to deal by an in
termediary ; if he were of an inferior grade, I would ask
for him. He approves of this. Madame asks me to go to
the play, which I refuse, and to Madame de Laborde's,
which I decline ; I offer, however, to set her down at the
play-house, which she accepts of. Go to Madame de
Chastellux's. M. de Brabancon comes in, to whom I
communicate an idea which has occurred to my mind of
forming a settlement upon the banks of the River St.
Lawrence. He seems pleased with it, and will speak to
the persons of his acquaintance who want to go out to
America."

" Goto Madame de Laborde's to supper [December 3 ist].
Madame d'Houdetot tells me that she dined at M. Necker's.
I find that his family are much hurt at a refusal of the
Assemblee to accept a gift proffered from Geneva, which is
considered as a slight to M. Necker. She tells me that the
Abbe Rayneval has addressed an excellent letter to the
Assemblee. I suppose from hence that it is a criticism upon
their conduct, which will not, I think, do them much
good.

" This morning two persons come to see me who
are determined to go out to America, and to purchase
there my Raritan trust. I am to write a letter for them
to New York. A person calls to obtain information
about America, which I give, and also advice. Write, and
then go to dine with M. Millet. After dinner one of the
King's pages comes in, who is to begin his tour of duty
to-morrow. He tells us of the wonderful sagacity, under
standing, and instruction of the King, his virtues, etc. He
must be very confident, I think, of the credulity of his au
dience. M. de Moustier, who had spoken very favorably
of him to me, and particularly as being an honest man,

1789.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 26 1

looks somewhat ashamed. A good deal of company at the
Louvre. At midnight the gentlemen kiss the ladies ; I do
not attempt this operation, because there is some resist
ance, and I like only the yielding kiss and that from lips
I love."

Many people in Paris were already looking toward
America as offering more safety if not comfort than any
place nearer home, in the general upheaval of society
that they felt was surely coming ; and much of Morris's
time was occupied in giving advice and assistance to the
emigrants. Several colonization schemes had already
been set on foot in Paris by Americans anxious to get rid
of their unproductive lands. One of the most shameful and
cruel of these projects was the famous Scioto enterprise,
and the founding of Gallipolis on the Ohio. Joel Barlow
and Duer were among the men who furthered the emi
gration of hundreds of unfortunate families, lured to de
struction by pictures of a salubrious climate and fertile
soil. Morris, who was entirely convinced of the rot
tenness of the Scioto Company, cautioned and tried to
protect the unwary Frenchmen from too hastily rushing
into the forests of America.

262 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIII.

CHAPTER VXIII.

Comparison between the newspaper of 1777 and 1789. New Year's salu
tations. Scene at the Chatelet. Madame de Flahaut's boudoir.
Stoppage of pensions. Lively discussion thereon in Madame de
StaeTs salon. Visit to the Comte de Chaste! lux. Message from the
Parlement of Brittany. Morris examines table - ornaments for
Washington. Decree in the Assembly concerning office-holding.
Adherence to the constitution required. Riot in Paris. A handsome
surtout for the table sent to Washington. Need of cultivating the
taste of America. The Duchess of Orleans obliged to economize.
The Cardinal de Rohan. The Bishop of Orleans. Marmontel.
Letter to Washington. Morris writes a note on the situation of
affairs for the king. Delivered to the queen by her physician. Anec
dote of the king. He goes to the Assembly. Conversation with
Lafayette.

NOT the least important of the stirring events of the
year just closed (1789) was the sudden development
of the great and far-reaching power of journalism. Al
ready Marat, Camille Desmoulins, Loustalot, and the
principal journalists of the Revolution, had forced them
selves before the public ; and the genius of the Revolu
tion had spoken through their medium with telling effect.
There is a striking comparison between the first daily
paper which was published in Paris in 1777, with its arti
cle on the " Almanac of the Muses," its letter describing
some " Vagary of Voltaire's," " Two Facts," and a "Witty
Thing," and the violent organs of the Girondin party, or
the power wielded by the pen of Camille Desmoulins,
while the Revolution was in full swing. And now was
instituted what might almost be called the cult of the

i79o.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 263

Lantern, for which someone wrote a sacrilegious litany
supplicating it to avenge the wrongs of France and have
pity on the people, with the refrain, " Effroi des aristo
crats, vengez-nous." The street lamp only came into gen
eral use in Paris during the reign of Louis XIV. Before
his time, for many years, the Parisians had been in the
habit of setting a lamp in a conspicuous window during
times of danger ; but under Louis XIV. the lantern in the
streets became an object of great admiration. The first
and most interesting lantern of Paris hung on a house
opposite the Hotel de Ville below a bust of the Grand
Monarque, and during the reign of Louis XVI. this iron
branch came to be at once interesting and terrifying to
the aristocrats. The year 1790 was more or less quietly
ushered in at the capital, but throughout France cha
teaux were burned, their owners cruelly outraged and
banished, a vast amount of property of all kinds des
troyed, and terror and confusion reigned supreme.

"The first day of the year," Morris says, "some
friends call and give me the salutations of the season, and
I go [January ist] round and pay sundry visits of the sea
son, among others at the Chatelet to the Baron Besenval.
He is a little vexed at finding new delays in his trial. He
receives a visit from the dames de la Halle, who in very
bad French, though Parisians, make him their sincere
compliments, promise friendship and assistance, which are
not to be despised. He of course treats them all with
respect, and Mesdames d'Oudenarde and La Caze stimu
late them to acts of violence. This is truly characteristic
of wrathful women. I go to M. de Lafayette's. A long
time before the company assemble. Dine at half-past
four. He tells me that Monsieur and Mirabeau are closely
allied, that one is a weak and indolent creature, the other
an active and artful rascal. I tell him that they must fin-

264 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIII.

ish the trial of Besenval because the people begin to take
his part, and that of course a violent torrent may be turned
against his prosecutors ; this affects him. To my sur
prise he tells me that, notwithstanding my criticisms on
the Assemblee, I must acknowledge that their constitution
is better than that of England. I assure him that he is
much mistaken if he imagines that to be my opinion.
Visit Madame de Stael, who expresses very kindly her
apprehension that I had forgotten her ; stay till half-past
ten, and go to the Louvre, where the Bishop d'Autun is
waiting for me. Explain to him a plan which I had com
municated to Madame for purchasing facilities in America
and in which she is to be interested. He tells me that, if
the advantage is great and the operation solid, he thinks
he can obtain two millions. I tell him that I wish to con
fine the object to one million. We are to talk further.
He observes on what I say that the American debt would
furnish a good speculation. I tell him that I am already
engaged in it ; that it is so large an object that the junc
tion of many capitalists became necessary. Madame be
ing ill, I find her with her feet in warm water, and when
she is about to take them out, one of her women being
employed in that operation, the Bishop employs himself
in warming her bed with a warming-pan, and I look on.
It is curious enough to see a reverend father of the church
engaged in this pious operation."

" Go to the club [January 4th]. The National Assembly
have stopped the pensions, giving only 3,ooof. for arrear
ages to the first instant. The list is to be examined be
tween this and the ist of July next, for the purpose of
reformation, and absentees are to receive nothing until
their return. Go to Madame de StaeTs, where this mat
ter is discussed pretty much at large. I tell them that
when privileges were abolished the road was opened for

i79o.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 265

the destruction of all property. This gives rise to an end
less dispute, in which she shows much genius and little
good breeding. The opinions are various, but they will
all be alike. I threw out the idea on purpose to make an
impression on some who have, I know, styled me aristo
crat, etc., because I do not approve of their sentiments.

" I find Madame de Flahaut au desespoir about the re
duction of the pensions, but she has very little reason. I
convince her of this, or, rather, she was already convinced
of it, but says she will cry very loud. Her servants this
morning have waited on her, with the assurance that they
will, if necessary, live on bread and water for the next six
months. The Bishop d'Autun comes in. She had told
me, before his arrival, that Monsieur has written a letter
to the King demanding a seat in council. It is in concert
with the Bishop and the Due de Livi. The Bishop says
that the dfrret respecting the pensions would not have
taken effect but for the Abbe de Montesquiou. Dine with
M. de Montmorin. The pensions are of course the subject
of conversation. I treat the de'cret as a violation of the
laws of property. It seems to be so considered, but not
in a light so extensive as that in which I place it. Draw
a parallel between this and the compensation given by
Great Britain to the American Loyalists. The absence
of many members who had gone to dinner is considered
here the cause of the decree. At parting, M. de Mont
morin asks me how my plan goes on. I tell him that I
expect to be joined by the Hollanders, for that three per
sons who are here are agreed, and one of them goes this
afternoon to Amsterdam to bring in his associates. He is
very glad to hear this. See Madame de Chastellux, who
tells me that she has seen M. de Lafayette ; that Favras
will be hanged ; that Monsieur was certainly in the plot ;
that he is guided by Mirabeau. As M. de Lafayette makes

266 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIII.

the world his confidant, the secret must of course be kept,
for it cannot go farther. But the consequence to him must
be perpetual enmity from Monsieur, the brother of the
King, who in all cases must be doing mischief, even if he
has not ability to do good. The Marechal de Segur comes
in. We have some conversation about the pensions, and
my sentiments accord well with his."

" Go to M. de Moustier's to dinner [January yth]. The
Comte de Croix, the Prince de Broglio, and Clermont-
Tonnerre are our party. The last two are greatly violent
against the Assemblee, to which they belong, but the
Comte de Croix has a little of the obstination flandraise,
and continues firm to the edicts, many of which he op
posed."

" Dress, and dine to-day [January 8th] with the Duchess
of Orleans. She has changed, I think for the better, in
her maitre d' hotel. After dinner visit the Comte de Chas-
tellux and his lady — in a pavilion of the Louvre, in the
garret, near one hundred and sixty steps from the earth,
in little cabins, and stinking most odiously from the col
lected treasures of ages. Madame shows me a box pre
sented by her Princess, who had sent a painter on purpose
to the Castle of Chastellux to take the different views.
It is a situation in the mountainous part of Burgundy,
near a small, clear river, abounding in trout. The Count
and his lady are a domestic couple. How happy might
they be to breathe the air of their own chateau, if it
were possible for mortals to know what constitutes their
own felicity. Madame de Segur is here, and the Marechal.
The Duchess comes in. I make her a dish of tea. She
makes use of many obliging expressions, the reason of
which I cannot conjecture, but incline to think that they
result from inattention. We shall see. After she is gone,
the Chevalier de Graave reads us the speech made this

1790.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 26/

day by the Parlement of Brittany to the Assemblee. It
is written with great force and precision, and shows that
they are confident of being supported by the province."

" Dine to-day [January zoth] with M. de Lafayette.
After dinner he asks me how they are to provide for the
case of disobedience in the provincial and district adminis
trations, which are submitted to the orders of the King, but,
being elected, may not respect those orders. I tell him that
no provision can be made ; that it is an institution radi
cally wrong, and they cannot alter it, because they have
said so much to the people about liberty ; that they must
of necessity leave the correction of this and many other
defects to time and experience, happy if the changes
induced by the latter should not bring back an authority
too severe. He does not like this sentiment. I suppose
they will find out some expedient, but certainly nothing
effectual. Go from hence to the Louvre. Madame de
Flahaut is distressed. She has been in tears all day. Af
ter much entreaty she tells me the cause. Her pensions
from Monsieur and from the Comte d'Artois are stopped ;
on that from the King she receives but 3,000!, and must
therefore leave Paris. I try to console her, but it is im
possible. Indeed, the stroke is severe, for with youth,
beauty, wit, and every loveliness, she must quit all that
she loves, to pass her life with what she most abhors. Go
from hence to Madame de Chastellux's. Short is here. I
repeat, in conversation about the Parlement of Brittany,
what in his presence I observed to Lafayette ; viz., that the
Assemblee must deal very delicately with the Bas-Bretons.
But he repeats Lafayette's answer ; viz., that nine-tenths
of the province are with the Assemblee. I doubt this intel
ligence, because the address of the Parlement is in a style
of calm firmness which shows a conviction of support, and
their position in the neighborhood of Britain is critical.

268 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIII.

"This morning [January nth] I go to the Porcelaine
to see a kind of ornament cemented on glass, being birds
formed with their feathers and other natural objects in the
same way ; of course, the representation is more just than
painting. The maker is here, and we inquire the price of
a surtout (epergne) * for a table ten feet long and two feet
wide. It is 2,ooof., and cannot be finished before October
next. Go to the Luxembourg, to dine with Count Louis
de Narbonne. A very good dinner, and very good wines ;

the Comte d'Afry, the Due de , the Chevalier de

Narbonne, Madame de Vintimille, and Madame Fronsac.
This last I had seen at M. de Montmorin's. She appears to
have a great deal of the free and easy about her ; whether
it is the result of a virtue out of all reach, or of an indif
ference about appearances, is to be examined. She is not
unhandsome, and plays well on the harpsichord. M. de
Bonnet, who was to have dined here, comes in late from
the Assemblee. They have passed a decree by which the
members of the Chambre des Vacations are rendered inca
pable of holding any office, or of electing or being elected,
until they shall announce to the Assembly their adherence
to the constitution. This is strong, but the Count de
Mirabeau was of opinion that they should be sent to the
Chatelet and tried for Use-nation.

" Go from hence to Madame de Chastellux's. Madame
de Segur and the Marechal and the Count come in. Con
versation is about the decree of the day, and so it is at
Madame de StaeTs. I contend that this decree is void, ac
cording to the principles of the Assemblee themselves, who
have declared their incompetency to act in a judicial ca
pacity. This induces a long dispute, in which I take a
greater part than the thing is worth, but the society here

* Washington had intrusted to Morris an order for the purchase of table-
ornaments to be used at his state dinners at Philadelphia.

i79o.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 269

has that tournure, and one must conform to or abandon it.
The latter, perhaps, is the wiser course/'

" After dinner [January i3th] go to the Louvre, and
find Madame de Flahaut in deep distress at the idea of
leaving Paris. She cannot go with me to look for a sur-
tout and ornaments, having affairs. The Bishop arrives.
He has had me elected into a society here which as yet I
do not exactly know the meaning of ; it is, however, a se
lect one. He expects to get a million for the speculation
proposed to Madame. He tells me that the members of the
Breton Parlement come hither voluntarily, because they
apprehended force from the Commons of Rennes. This
is extraordinary, for Rennes subsists only from the pres
ence of the Parlement. There has been a riot this day in
Paris, and a number of the militaires engaged in the squab
ble have been taken prisoners. The matter is not gener
ally understood, but all agree that Lafayette has acted
with great prudence and decision."

" See Madame de Flahaut this morning [January i4th].
She tells me that next week the Caisse d'Escompte will stop
payment in coin altogether. At Madame de Chastellux's
the Duchess reproaches me with neglecting her while she
was ill the last three days, to which I reply that if I could
have been useful to her I should certainly have shown my
attention. I call for Madame de Flahaut and we go to
look for a surtout ; afterwards go to the manufactory of
Angouleme. We agree that the porcelaine here is hand
somer and cheaper than that of Sevres. I think I shall
purchase for General Washington here. Madame tells me
that the Comte de Segur has persuaded Lafayette to place
the Bishop in the finance. He told him that he disliked
the Bishop as much as M. de Lafayette, but that they had
no man of sufficient abilities, and it would not do to have
the abilities of the Bishop opposed to them. Lafayette

2/0 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIII.

told this to his friend Madame de Simieu, she to Madame

de Coigny, she to Madame de , who told it to the Due

de Biron, and he told it to Madame de Flahaut, who de
sires me to keep up this apprehension through Madame
de Segur ; but I shall certainly say nothing to her but the
truth, nor that, unless the occasion calls for it. Her hus
band is, I think, wrong in pushing so hard to obtain a
place in the administration. But time must determine the
propriety of this judgment. The Duchess arrives late at
Madame de Chastellux's to-night. The mother of the
Bishop d'Autun is here. She is highly aristocratic ; she
says that the great of this country who have favored the
Revolution are taken in, and I think that she is not much
mistaken in that idea."

A surtout of seven plateaus and the ornaments in biscuit
and three large glass covers for the three groups were
bought and sent to Washington. When sending the
pieces, Morris wrote to him as follows : " In all there are
three groups, two vases, and twelve figures. The vases
may be used as they are, or, when occasion serves, the tops
may be laid aside and the vases filled with natural flowers.
When the whole surtout is to be used for large companies,
the large group will be in the middle, the two smaller ones
at the two ends, the vases in the spaces between the three,
and the figures distributed along the edges, or rather along
the sides. . . . To clean the biscuit warm water is to
be used, and a brush such as is used for painting in water-
colors. You will perhaps exclaim that I have not com
plied with your directions as to economy, but you will be
of a different opinion when you see the articles. I could
have sent you a number of pretty trifles for very little
prime cost, but you must have had an annual supply, and
your table should have been in the style of a petite mai-
tresse of this city. ... I think it of very great im-

1790.3 GOUVERNEUR MORRIS.

portance to fix the taste of our country properly, and I
think your example will go very far in that respect.
It is therefore my wish that everything about you should
be substantially good and majestically plain, made to endure.
. . . By the bye, you must be thankful that I did not
run you into further expense, for I was violently tempted
to send out two dozen cups and saucers, with the needful
accompaniments, to Mrs. Washington."

"There is a musical party at Madame Le Coulteux's to
night [January i6th], which is to me very dull, although
the singing is very good. De Cantaleu asks me with a sar
castic smile how the Bishop d'Autun is. I tell him that
he is by no means eager to enter into the administration
at present. He observes that at present a minister can do
nothing ; things will go forward in their own way. I tell
him that he is right as to the present moment, but that
ministers might have directed some time ago, and either
everything will go to destruction or they will hereafter
direct the machine ; that even now it is important to in
dividuals to be apprised of their intentions. I find that
M. de Cantaleu has all the self-importance of a parvenu
who thinks that his merit has obtained what, in fact, is the
price of his attachment to the ministers. I ask Laurent if
nothing can be made out of the assignats. He says that
until five or six months are passed, and their value a little
known, it will be impossible to judge about them."

"Dine at Lafayette's [January lyth]. He asks what I
think of Ternant as Minister to America. Tell him that I
approve. Hence I conclude that he intends the appoint
ment to pass in my opinion as of his making. Very well.
After dinner Gouvernay tells me that Necker is much
better, but makes himself worse than he is, by way of
securing a retreat which he meditates. He says fur
ther that a chief minister is necessary. I ask him who

2/2. DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIII.

is to be in the finances ; whether the Bishop d'Autun.
He says that he will not do at all ; that he is unequal
to the business ; that M. Touret for the Home Depart
ment, and M. de St. Priest for the Foreign Affairs will
do very well, but there are no other men sufficiently
eminent. I ask Madame de Lafayette, who comes up to
us, to name a man. She cannot. I observe that I hear
the Comte de Segur is in pursuit of the office of Foreign
Affairs. Gouvernay and she join in declaring that he is
not fit for it. At dinner Lafayette asked me what they
should do about their militia. I told him, nothing ; for
they cannot do what is right, and therefore had better
leave it in such situation as that it can be mended, which
would not be the case if fixed by the constitution. He
says that he and others are determined to select particular
articles in the constitution as it now stands, and form of
them a constitution properly so called, leaving the rest to
the mercy of the legislature. This I approve of, but yet
much will depend on the selection. I advise that they
should, in respect to their bill of rights, imitate the masons,
who knock down the scaffolding when they have finished
the house. Go to the Louvre and give Madame de Fla-
haut such information as relates to her friend ; but he has
too good an opinion of his own opinion to make a good
Minister of Finance. In the different societies everybody
seems to agree that things go badly, and they speak with
despondence ; but, in fact, nothing good could result from
the measures of Government, which have been so very ill
judged."

" Dine to-day [January Tpth] at the Palais Royal.* The

* The Duke and Duchess of Orleans had lived happily until 1789, when Ma
dame de Genlis came between them, and the management of the children was
given to her. The first open quarrel they had was when the duchess refused
to accompany the duke on his mission to England, but she was subse
quently reconciled to him. About this time a separation had taken place be-

1790.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 273

Duchess tells me that the Duke's treasurer does not pay
as he ought to do, monthly, and that unless this is done
she will not adhere to the contract. She receives now
450,000! per annum, of which 350,0001. are appropriated to
the house, servants, table, etc. ; near 15,000 louis. Cer
tainly a great economy might be made upon this article.
After dinner go to the Louvre. The Cardinal de Rohan
is there. Accidentally he mentions his prods, and, after
relating the circumstances which brought it to his mind,
he declares that he thinks it a weakness to talk of it ; and
he is right. He has plus de grace que (Tesprit. But he
speaks in too good style to write in a style as bad as Ma
dame de la Motte has attributed to him. A new piece at
the Comedie to-night much applauded, but a very bad one.
It is, however, la mode. The object is to ridicule, or rather
to preach against, the prejudices entertained against the
family and connections of a man who is hanged. A ' Lor
Anglais ' is the preacher, who takes from the book of Eng
land a text which is not to be found in it, and, with the
aid of antitheses and other such figures, gives the audi
ence much satisfaction, which is greatly increased by the

tween them, and a lawsuit had been commenced to obtain the repayment of
her dowry. This demand, in the shattered condition of the duke's finances,
meant ruin. At length, worn out with worry, the duchess quitted her hus
band's palace on the twenty second anniversary of their wedding-day, April
5, 1791, and sought shelter with her father, the Due de Penthievre. Later the
Princesse de Lamballe undertook to reconcile the duke and duchess, and the
duke offered to restore the dowry, provided the duchess would settle an annu
ity of one hundred thousand livres on each of her children, entirely independ
ent of both parents. The duchess rejected these terms, but offered to be re
sponsible for the entire support of the Comte de Beaujolais and Mademoiselle
d'Orleans, they to be immediately confided to her care. Scarcely was this
proposal made than Mademoiselle d'Orleans was sent with Madame de Genlis
to England, and the duchess did not see her again for ten years. A suit
was brought against the duke in October, 1791, which was continued even when
the husband and wife were separated by many leagues, and the decree of
final separation was pronounced, in November, 1792, only a few weeks before
the duke lost his head.
18

274 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIII.

judicious ranting of the actors — judicious, because a nat
ural action would disclose the defects of the piece, now
concealed by the roaring."

"While Count Dillon and I are walking in the Champs
Elysees to-day [January 2ist], the report of a pistol is
heard, which Dillon considers some duel, for of late there
is a great deal of that kind of work going forward. I
laugh at the idea, but presently we see a man led along
by a party of soldiers ; making up to them we learn that he
just now shot himself, but he took bad aim, so that the ball,
which entered in at his forehead, came out at the top of
his head. The soldier says he does not know who the man
is, and that when a man has lost his all, without any fault of
his own, the best thing he can do is to shoot himself. Go
hence to the Louvre, and stay but a few minutes ; M. le
Vicomte de St. Priest is here. Dine with the Duchess of
Orleans. The Bishop of Orleans is here. This Bishop
seems to be of that kind whose sincerest prayer is for the
fruit of good living, and, to judge by his manner of talk
ing, one would suppose that he deems it of more impor
tance to speak than to speak truth. Go to the Louvre.
Immediately after my arrival the Bishop comes in, who
seems not at all content to find me here. His expecta
tions of procuring a million prove abortive. The party
tells him that he thinks the affair excellent, but as they
must soon have paper money in France he must collect
his funds to take advantage of that event, by which he
will gain greatly. The Bishop goes away, and Madame
gives me a plan of finance to read which is prepared by
M. de St. Foi for the Bishop and on which she asks my
opinion. I tell her that nothing more is necessary to ruin
him entirely. In effect, it is a scheme for i,ooo,ooo,ooof.
in paper money redeemable in twenty years, at the rate of
50,000,0001. per annum ; the sum redeemed to be deter-

1790.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 2/5

mined by lottery every six months, and then 25,ooo,ooof.
to be paid, and on that, premiums of twenty per cent, or
five millions, and to effectuate this, a tax of sixty millions
to be laid. This plan, then, is to borrow at an interest of
ten millions per thousand millions, or one per cent. The
author is clear that the paper, instead of depreciating, will
be above par, but the one hundred and twenty-five million
loan which forms the standard for the price of stocks here
and which bears near seven per cent, interest, premiums
included, sells at a discount of above ten per cent. I
show her a few of the many fatal consequences which
would attend the adoption."

"Walk in the gardens of the Tuileries [January 22d]
with Madame de Flahaut and M. de St. Pardou, and then
dine with the Comte de Montmorin. M. de Marmontel*
is here. After dinner I speak to the Count about the
commerce with their islands. He says he hopes something
will be done in the next fifteen days ; that in his opinion they
ought to permit a much freer commerce with us than with
any other nation, because that the state of their colonies
must depend on us. I communicate to him, in the most
perfect confidence, the commission with which I am
charged in part. I tell him two very great truths : that a
free commerce with the British Islands is the object
which will chiefly operate on us to give us the desire of a
treaty of commerce with Britain, and that I prefer much a
close connection with France. He tells me that their
great misfortune here is to have no fixed plan nor princi
ple, and at present no chief. I tell him that they ought

* Jean Francois Marmontel, the successor to D'Alembert as perpetual sec
retary of the French Academy, a writer and critic, was in the first rank of the
literature of the eighteenth century. Full of resources and of ideas, he ex
pressed himself with precision and force. Through the epoch of the Revo
lution his course was dignified, prudent, and at the same time generous.
He passed those stormy years in retirement in the country, and died in 1799.

2/6 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIII.

to go to war. He says he is convinced that if they do not
soon make war, it will soon be made against them. But
their finances ! I tell him that there is less difficulty in
that than he is aware of. But the great mischief is in a
constitution without energy. We join the company. A
good deal of conversation about public affairs, in which
Marmontel agrees with me in opinion. I had an oppor
tunity at dinner to remark on the varieties in taste. A
large trout was received from the Lake of Geneva, and it
was a question when we are to dine off it. The maitre
d'hotel was interpellated and the trout was produced — a
very large one, of at least twenty pounds weight and per
fectly fresh, having been brought by the courier. The
maitre d'hotel says it must be kept till Wednesday, ' pour
etre mortifie,' and as that day does not suit the company,
poor Monsieur Trout must e'en mortify two days longer.
I cannot but sympathize in his afflictions."

" The Vicomte de St. Priest, who dines at the Palais
Royal to-day [January 25th] and sits next to me, mentions
the idea of the King's going to the Assemblee in order to
put himself at the head of the Revolution. I blame this
step and tell him, without mincing the matter, that his ad
visers to that step give him un conseil ou inepte ou perfide.
Madame de Segur differs with me, and after dinner her
husband, to whom she mentioned it, also tells me that he
holds the opposite opinion and wishes to discuss the mat
ter with me. I only add that the King ought to send the
Comte d'Artois his children, so that the whole of the royal
family should not be in the power of their enemies, and
that he should let the nation do as they please. In the
course of things, they will come back to their allegiance.
The occasion does not suit for a discussion of this matter.
Return home and write. At nine go to the Louvre. The
Bishop d'Autun is here. Some conversation about coin-

1790.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 277

age, in which he is not quite right, but I find that he has
studied the matter. I remind him of the book he was to
lend me. Send my servant home with him, and he trans
mits it. Tis somewhat droll to receive the ' Portier des
Chartreux' from the hands of a reverend father in God."

The following letter, written in January, to Washington,
gives a forcible and correct picture of Paris, and of France
as well. " Your sentiments," he wrote, "on the Revolu
tion effecting here I believe to be perfectly just, be
cause they perfectly accord with my own, and that is, you
know, the only standard which Heaven has given us by
which to judge. The King is in effect a prisoner at Paris,
and obeys entirely the National Assembly. This Assembly
may be divided into three parts. One, called the aristo
crats, consists of the high clergy, the members of the law
(not lawyers), and such of the nobility as think they ought
to form a separate order ; another, which has no name,
but which consists of all sorts of people, really friends to
a free government. The third is composed of what are
called here the enragJs, that is, the madmen. These are the
most numerous, and are of that class which in America
is known by the name of pettifogging lawyers, together
with a host of curates, and many of those who, in all re
volutions, throng to the standard of change because they
are not well. This party, in close alliance with the popu
lace, derives from that circumstance very great authority.
They have already unhinged everything. . . . The
torrent rushes on, irresistible until it shall have wasted
itself.

" The aristocrats are without a leader, and without any
plan or counsels as yet, but ready to throw themselves
into the arms of anyone who shall offer. The middle
party, who mean well, have unfortunately acquired their
ideas of government from books, and are admirable fel-

2/8 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIII.

lows upon paper ; but as it happens, somewhat unfortu
nately, that the men who live in the world are very differ
ent from those who dwell in the heads of philosophers, it
is not to be wondered at if the systems taken out of
books are fit for nothing but to be put into books again.
Marraontel is the only man I have met with among their
literati who seems truly to understand the subject ; for
the rest, they discuss nothing in the Assembly. One large
half of the time is spent in hollowing and bawling — their
manner of speaking. Those who intend to speak write
their names on a tablet, and are heard in the order that
their names are written down, if the others will hear them,
which often they refuse to do, keeping up a continual up
roar till the orator leaves the pulpit. Each man permit
ted to speak delivers the result of his lucubrations, so
that the opposing parties fire off their cartridges, and
it is a million to one if their missile arguments happen to
meet. The arguments are usually printed ; therefore there
is as much attention paid to making them sound and look
well, as to convey instruction or produce conviction. But
there is another ceremony which the arguments go through,
and which does not fail to affect the form, at least, and
perhaps the substance. They are read beforehand in a
small society of young men and women, and generally the
fair friend of the speaker is one, or else the fair whom he
means to make his friend, and the society very politely
give their approbation, unless the lady who gives the tone
to that circle chances to reprehend something, which is,
of course, altered if not amended. Do not suppose I am
playing the traveller. I have assisted at some of these
readings, and will now give you an anecdote from one of
them. I was at Madame de StaeTs, the daughter of M.
Necker. She is a woman of wonderful wit, and above
vulgar prejudices of every kind. Her house is a kind of

1790.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 2/9

Temple of Apollo, where the men of wit and fashion are
collected twice a week at supper, and once at dinner, and
sometimes more frequently. The Comte de Clermont-
Tonnerre (one of their greatest orators) read to us a very
pathetic oration, and the object was to show that, as pen
alties are the legal compensation for injuries and crimes,
the man who is hanged, having by that event paid his debt
to society, ought not to be held in dishonor ; and in like
manner, he who has been condemned for seven years to
be flogged in the galleys should, when he had served out
his apprenticeship, be received again into good company
as if nothing had happened. You smile ; but observe that
the extreme to which the matter was carried the other
way, dishonoring thousands for the guilt of one, has so
shocked the public sentiment as to render this extreme
fashionable. The oration was very fine, very sentimental,
very pathetic, and the style harmonious. Shouts of ap
plause and full approbation. When this was pretty well
over, I told him that his speech was extremely eloquent,
but that his principles were not very solid. Universal
surprise. A few remarks changed the face of things.
The position was universally condemned, and he left the
room. I need not add that as yet it has never been de
livered in the Assembly, and yet it was of the kind which
produces a decree by acclamation ; for sometimes an ora
tor gets up in the midst of another deliberation, makes a
fine discourse, and closes with a good snug resolution,
which is carried with a huzza. Thus, in considering a
plan for a national bank proposed by M. Necker, one of
them took it into his head to move that every member
should give his silver buckles, which was agreed to at once,
and the honorable member laid his upon the table, after
which the business went on again. It is difficult to guess
whereabouts the flock will settle when it flies so wild, but,

280 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIII.

as far as it is possible to guess at present, this (late) king
dom will be cast into a congeries of little democracies,
not laid out according to the rivers and mountains, but
with the square and. compass, according to latitude and
longitude ; and as the provinces had anciently different
laws (called coutumes), and as the clippings and parings
of several provinces must fall together within some of the
new divisions, I think such fermenting matter must give
them a kind of political colic.

" Their Assemblee Nationale will be something like the
old Congress, and the King will be called executive magis
trate. As yet they have been busily engaged in pillaging
the present occupant of his authority. How much they will
leave him will depend upon the chapter of accidents ; I be
lieve it will be very little, but, little or much, the perspective
of such a king and such an assembly brings to my mind a
saying which Shakespeare has put into the mouths of two
old soldiers upon hearing that Lepidus, one of the famous
Triumvirate, was dead : ' So the poor third is up. World,
thou hast a pair of chaps no more ; and throw between
them all the food thou hast, they'll grind the one the other.'
At present the people are fully determined to support the
Assembly, and although there are some discontents, I do
not believe that anything very serious exists in the style
of opposition. Indeed, it would be wonderful if there
should, for hitherto an extension of privileges and a re
mission of taxes to the lower class has marked every stage
of the progress. Besides, the love of novelty is a great
sweetener in revolutions. But the time will come when
this novelty is over, and all its charms are gone. In lieu
of the taxes remitted other taxes must be laid, for the
public burden must be borne. The elected administrators
must then either indulge their electors, which will be ruin
ous to the fisc, or, in urging the collection of taxes, displease

I7QO.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 28 1

their constituents. In all probability there will be a little
of both ; hence must arise bickerings and heart-burnings
among the different districts, and a great languor through
out the kingdom, as the revenue must fall short of calcu
lation in point of time, if not in amount (and that is the
same thing where revenue is concerned). It will follow
that either the interest of the public debt will not be regu
larly paid, or that various departments will be starved ;
probably a little of both. Hence will result a loss of pub
lic credit, and then with much injury to commerce and
manufactures, operating a further decrease of the means
of revenue, and much debility as to the exterior operations
of the kingdom. At this moment the discontented spirits
will find congenial matter in abundance to work upon, and
from that period all the future is involved in the mist of
conjecture. If the reigning prince were not the small-beer
character he is, there can be but little doubt that, watch
ing events and making tolerable use of them, he would re
gain his authority ; but what will you have from a creature
who, situated as he is, eats and drinks and sleeps well, and
laughs and is as merry a grig as lives ? The idea that they
will give him some money when he can economize, and
that he will have no trouble in governing, contents him
entirely. Poor man, he little thinks how unstable is his
situation. He is beloved, but it is not with the sort of
love which a monarch should inspire ; it is that kind of
good-natured pity which one feels for a led captive. There
is, besides, no possibility of serving him, for at the slightest
show of opposition he gives up everything, and every per
son. As to his ministers, the Comte de Montmorin has
more understanding than people in general imagine, and
he means well, very well, but he means it feebly. He is a
good, easy kind of man, one who would make an excellent
peace minister in quiet times, but he wants the vigor of

282 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIII.

mind needful for great occasions. The Comte de la Lu-
zerne is an indolent, pleasant companion, a man of honor,
and as obstinate as you please, but he has somewhat of
the creed of General Gates, that the world does a great
part of its own business, without the aid of those who are
at the head of affairs. The success of such men depends
very much upon the run of the dice. The Comte de St.
Priest is the only man among them who has what they call
caractere, which answers to our idea of firmness, joined to
some activity ; but a person who knows him pretty well
(which I do not), assures me that he is mercenary and
false-hearted ; if so, he cannot possess much good sense,
whatever may be his share of genius or talents. M. de
la Tour du Pin, whom I am almost unacquainted with, is,
I am told, no great things in any respect. M. Necker was
frightened by the enrages into the acceptance of him in
stead of the Marquis de Montesquiou, who has a consid
erable share of talents and a good deal of method. Mon
tesquiou is, of course, at present the enemy of M. Necker,
having been his friend.

" As to M. Necker, he is one of those men who has ob
tained a much greater reputation than he had any right
to. His enemies say that as a banker he acquired his for
tune by means which, to say the least, were indelicate, and
they mention instances. But in this country everything
is so much exaggerated that nothing is more useful than a
little scepticism. M. Necker, in his public administration,
has always been honest and disinterested, which proves
well I think for his former private conduct, or else it
proves that he has more vanity than cupidity. Be that as
it may, an unspotted integrity as minister, and serving at
his own expense in an office which others seek for the pur
pose of enriqhing themselves, have acquired him very de
servedly much confidence. Add to this, his writings on

I79o.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 283

finance teem with that sort of sensibility which makes the
fortune of modern romances, and which is exactly suited
to this lively nation, who love to read but hate to think.
Hence his reputation. He is a man of genius, and his
wife is a woman of sense. But neither of them has tal
ents, or, rather, the talents of a great minister. His educa
tion as a banker has taught him to make tight bargains
and put him upon his guard against projects. But though
he understands man as a covetous creature, he does not
understand mankind, a defect which is irremediable. He
is utterly ignorant also of politics, by which I mean poli
tics in the great sense, or that sublime science which em
braces for its object the happiness of mankind. Conse
quently he neither knows what constitution to form nor
how to obtain the consent of others to such as he wishes.
From the moment of convening the States-General, he has
been afloat on the wide ocean of incidents. But what is
most extraordinary is, that M. Necker is a very poor finan
cier. This I know will sound like heresy in the ears of
most people, but it is true. The plans he has proposed
are feeble and ineptious. Hitherto he has been supported
by borrowing from the Caisse d'Escompte, which (being by
means of what they call here an arr$t de surs/ance secured
from all prosecution) has lent him a sum in their paper
exceeding the totality of their capital by about four mill
ions sterling. Last autumn he came forward to the As-
semblee with a dreadful tale of woe, at the fag end of
which was a tax upon every member of the community of
a fourth of his revenue, which he declared to be needful
for saving the state. His enemies adopted it (declaring,
what is very true, that it is a wretched, impracticable ex
pedient) in the hope that he and his scheme would fall to
gether. This Assemblee, this patriotic band, took in a
lump the minister's proposition, because of their confidence

284 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIII.

and the confidence of the people in them, as they said, but,
in fact, because they would not risk the unpopularity of
a tax. The plan thus adopted, M. Necker, to escape the
snare which he had nearly got taken in, altered his tax into
what they call the patriotic contribution. By this every
man is to declare, if he pleases, what he pleases to estimate
as his annual income, and to pay one-fourth of it in three
years. You will easily suppose that this fund was unpro
ductive, and, notwithstanding the imminent danger of the
state, here we are without any aid from the contribution
patriotique. His next scheme was that of a national bank,
or at least an extension of the Caisse d'Escompte. It has
been variously modelled since, and many capital objections
removed, but at last it is good for nothing, and so it will
turn out ; at present it is just beginning. By way of giv
ing some base to the present operation, it is proposed and
determined to sell about ten or twelve millions sterling of
the Crown and Church lands, both of which are, by reso
lution of the Assemblee, declared to belong to the nation ;
but as it is clear that these lands will not sell well just
now, they have appointed a treasurer to receive what they
will sell for hereafter, and they issue a kind of order upon
this treasurer, which is to be called an assignat, and is to be
paid (out of the sales) one, two, and three years hence.
They expect that on these assignats they can borrow
money to face the engagements of the Caisse d'Escompte,
and they are at the same time to pay some of the more press
ing debts with the same assignats. Now this plan must
fail as follows : First, there will be some doubt about the
title of these lands, at least till the Revolution is completed.
Secondly, the representative of lands must always (for a
reason which will presently appear) sell for less than a
representative of money, and therefore, until public confi
dence is so far restored as that the five per cents are above

I79Q.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 285

par, these assignats, bearing five per cent, must be below
par ; money, therefore, cannot be raised upon them but at
a considerable discount. Thirdly, the lands to be disposed
of must sell a great deal below their value, for there is not
money to buy them in this country, and the proof is that
they never obtained money on loan at a legal interest, but
always upon a premium sufficient to draw it from the
employments of commerce and manufactures ; and as the
Revolution has greatly lessened the mass of money, the
effect of the scarcity must be greater. But further, there
is a solecism in the plan which escapes most of them, and
which is nevertheless very palpable. The value of lands
in Europe is, you know, estimated by the income. To dis
pose of public lands, therefore, is to sell public revenue,
and therefore, taking the legal interest at five per cent.,
land renting for icof. ought to sell for 2,ooof. ; but they ex
pect that these lands will sell for 3,ooof., and that thereby
not only public credit will be restored but a great saving
will be made, as the 3,ooof. will redeem an interest of i5of.
It is, however, an indisputable fact that, public credit be
ing established, the stocks are worth more than land of
equal income, and for three reasons : First, that there is no
trouble whatever in the management ; secondly, there is no
danger of bad crops and taxes ; and, thirdly, they can be dis
posed of at a moment's warning, if the owner wants money,
and be as readily repurchased when it suits his conveni
ence, If, therefore, the public credit be restored, and
there be a surplus sum of ten to twelve millions to be in
vested, and if such large sales (contrary to custom) should
not, from the amount, affect the price, still the lands must
go cheaper than the stocks, and consequently the interest
bought will be smaller than the revenue sold.

" Having thus given you a very rude sketch of the men
and the measures of this country, I see and feel that it is

286 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIII.

time to conclude. I sincerely wish I could say that there
are able men at hand to take the helm, should the present
pilot abandon the ship. But I have great apprehensions
as to those who may succeed. The present set must wear
out in the course of the year, and most of them would be
glad to get fairly out of the scrape at present, but it is
alike dangerous to stay or to go, and they must patiently
await the breath of the Assembly and follow as it blows.
The new order of things cannot endure. I hope it may be
mended, but fear it may be changed. All Europe just
now is like a mine ready to explode, and if this winter
does not produce peace, next summer will behold a wider
extension of the war."

" To-day [January 26th], at half-past three, I go to M. de
Lafayette's. He tells me that he wishes to have a meet
ing of Mr. Short, Mr. Paine, and myself, to consider their
judiciary, because his place imposes on him the necessity
of being right. I tell him that Paine can do him no good,
for that, although he has an excellent pen to write, he has
but an indifferent head to think. In conversing about
this affair he tells me that he has gotten into his posses
sion a m&moire written by the refugees of Turin to stir up
the Princes of Germany against France, etc. It is to be
read in council to-morrow by M. de Montmorin. La
fayette says it shall be published. I desire him to suspend
that determination, and give him reasons which convince
his judgment, but without affecting his will. He is to
show it to me to-morrow, and I think the public will soon
be let into the secret. At half-past nine go to the Lou
vre. Madame has another lady with her and is at play.
She apologizes for it in English, which the other un
derstands. This is whimsical enough. I make tea for
them, and at half-past eleven we are left en tete-a-tete.
I communicate to her a note, written this morning, upon

I790-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 28/

the situation of affairs, and the conduct which the King
ought to pursue. This she will hand to the Queen
through Vicq d'Azyr, the Queen's physician. I tell her
that she must cultivate the Queen and give her good
advice, the direct contrary of what the King receives
from the ruling party ; that if they succeed she will
then be provided for by means of her friends, but if
if they fail, then the Queen will feel obligations which,
having the power, she will of course repay. My friend
feels some repugnance to this, which is only proper con
duct for her. She tells me an affair in which the Marquis
de Montesquiou behaves with indelicacy, and in which she
sees the prospect of making some money. She is to give
me the particulars for my consideration. I leave her at
half-past twelve and return home."

" Friday [January 29th], I go to M. de Montmorin's to
eat the trout, which was so much ' mortifie ' that he refused
to assist at this repast. In plain English, it was spoiled
some days ago. Before dinner the question of the King's
visit to the Assemblee was started, and I very impru
dently give my opinion of that measure. Reflection tells
me that whether proposed by Necker or by Lafayette,
Montmorin has probably agreed to it. The Baron de
Besenval is released from his confinement this evening,
about eight o'clock. From what Madame de Chastellux
tells me as coming from Madame Necker, by the Due de
Nivernois, I conclude that the proposed plan for the
King originates in the Finance Department. It is ridicu
lous. Go to the Louvre. M. de Montesquiou is there. We
have some conversation on political topics, and after a
while he goes away. Madame de Flahaut is exceedingly
distressed. She tells me their conversation, from which
she collected that unless he can borrow money to relieve
his wants he must put an end to his existence. She is

288 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIII.

much shocked at the situation of a friend who has been
long and sincerely attached to her. I calm her griefs as
well as I can, and leave her to go to Madame de Chas-
tellux's. The Comte de Segur gives me all the reasons
for the King going to the Assemblee, which are not worth
a sou, in my opinion."

"This morning [February ist] the Comte de Luxem
bourg comes to breakfast with me ; as I am very busy, I
cut the conversation short and begin to write. He leaves
me, lamenting always that he is not old enough to be in
administration, where, with the aid of my counsels, he
could do wonders. He will know better by and by.
Dine with the Duchess of Orleans. After dinner we dis
cuss a question on which I deliver a sentiment somewhat
extraordinary, in this extraordinary country, viz., that a
woman of sense and learning is more easily led astray
than another ; among other reasons, because, having per
haps a higher sense of duty, she feels a pleasure propor
tionately greater in the breach which leads her on further
and faster than another could go. The Duchess denies
this position, but in my elucidations I give some traits of
female sentiment so true that an old lady present declares
my opinion to be abominable, but fears it is just. I can
not stay to finish the discussion, but as soon as my car
riage is announced I step into it and go to M. Necker's.
I tell him briefly the conduct of the houses in Holland,
and add that I must go thither before I can deal further
with him. He seems to be much disappointed. I tell
him that I will do everything in my power to conclude the
affair agreeably to his - wishes ; that it is possible the
United States may employ me, and in that case I shall,
from motives of delicacy, decline all further dealings with
him, but in such case I will cause the thing to be done by
others. He seems better pleased. He is one of those

1790.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 289

men whose opinions one must guess at. From Madame's
manner, I think I can perceive that my neglect of the
house for some time past has not been useful. Perhaps
there are other reasons. There are commotions in Brit
tany, and the Comte de Thiard tells me that commotions
arise from the Tiers, i.e., from some citizens disguised as
peasants. Evidently it is a concert with the members of the
Assemblee. Go hence to the Louvre, and sup. Madame de
Flahaut tells me that the Queen has told Vicq d'Azyr she
has heard that the Bishop is a man of great abilities, and
that it is worth while to have such men. Vicq d'Azyr said
he was well assured, from one of his intimate friends, that
Her Majesty would never have cause to complain of him.
The Queen smiled and said she knew who that friend was,
to which the physician replied, * Then Your Majesty will
spare me the indiscretion of mentioning it.' He gave her
the note I had written, and which Madame de Flahaut
had copied for the purpose. The Queen said that, so long
as M. Necker continues in office, she will not interfere in
affairs."

"This morning [February 3d] M. de la Chaise calls, and
I spend the rest of the morning with him. I try to per
suade him to join me at once in an offer to M. Necker on
the debt, but he is afraid. I show him the advantages of
which the plan is susceptible, and the facility of the exe
cution, but he dares not. He recommends it to me very
strongly to go to Holland, and I think I shall take his ad
vice. Dine at the Palais Royal. An excellent dinner.
Puisignieu, who is here, tells me that he finds that I was
right in my ideas about the effect of the King's speech,
and owns that he was mistaken. I whisper to Madame de
Segur that this information has no effect either to alter or
confirm that opinion, which is founded on what I con
ceive to be the nature of man. It is a very strange thing
19

290 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIII.

that men who have lived in the world fifty years should
believe that opposition, founded on strong direct personal
interests, can be instantly calmed by a few honeyed ex
pressions. The present idea is that it will have a won
derful effect in the provinces, but I can conceive of no
other effect there than to create animosity. The noblesse
will consider it as the effect of the thraldom in which he is
held, and the populace as a declaration of war against their
superiors. The Abbe Delille repeats some verses, his

* Catacombs.' They are very fine, and very well spoken,
but I remark to him that one of his lines is un pen fort :

1 II ne voit que la nuit, rientend que la silence.'

He tells me he is surprised that I, above all men, should
make that remark, who must certainly remember Milton's

* darkness visible.' There is a difference, however, both
in the phrase and in the idea ; there is a difference, also,
in the kind of poem, and perhaps Milton was on the
verge, at least, of bombast in that expression. However,
I do not discuss the matter further with him."

Just as Morris was hoping to arrange satisfactorily
the affair of a loan on the debt to France with houses in
Holland, he received the information " that the houses in
Holland have not only refused to be connected with me,
either as parties or on commission, but have opened a loan
for 3,000,000! on account of Congress, and written a letter
to Mr. Hamilton * and M. Necker urging them not to agree.
Go to Mr. Short's to see the letter to Hamilton, which,
besides being a very foolish one, is, like all the rest, a vio
lation of the promises made to me. I tell Van Staphorst
my opinion of their conduct, which he acknowledges to
be just. I have disagreeable forebodings about the af-

* Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of ine Treasury of the United States.

1790.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 2QI

fairs negotiating in Holland. Van Staphorst tells me
that he thinks I had better go to Amsterdam, arid that, al
though the houses do not merit a participation in my plan,
yet they can be so useful that I shall find it to my interest
to employ them. I tell him that I think I shall go. Short
comes to see me, and I read him my letter to Colonel
Hamilton. He will write in conformity to my sentiments,
and is much hurt to find that the plan has not succeeded.
Madame de Segur is at Madame de Chastellux's when
I call there. She tells me, and the Marechal confirms it,
that the Queen decided the King to go to the Assemblee.
She adds, as received from an aristocratic quarter, that His
Majesty, the day before, swore hard at Necker, and
asked him if that step would procure peace, which the
poor minister could not promise ; that he was very much
out of humor, also, all the morning, and that when he
returned from the Assemblee he passed some time in tears.
I doubt that this picture is overcharged, but I believe the
ground is just, and my fair informant is of the same opin
ion. The Marechal avows that he has been very much
mistaken as to Necker's abilities."

On the 4th of February the King sent a message to
the Assembly to say that at midday he desired to attend
their deliberations : u Je desire etre recu sans ceremo-
nie." Dressed in black, attended by several pages and
his ministers, he arrived, affected not to sit down, but,
hat in hand, read his discourse. The diary comments on
the event as follows : " The Comte de Montmorin tells me
that the King's speech has been received with great ap
plause. The Assembly take an oath to support the consti
tution which is to be made. A strange oath. If this
step of His Majesty has any effect on reasonable minds,
it must be to prove more clearly the feebleness of his
ministers, For three mcaths past they have inveighed

292 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIII.

(to the members) against the proceedings of the As
sembly, and they appear to give His Majesty's full appro
bation. Go from hence to M. de Lafayette's. He asks
my opinion of this step, and is much surprised to hear
that I disapprove of it. I tell him that I think it can do
no good, and must therefore do harm. He says it will
enable him to advocate the royal authority in the As-
semblee."

"Dine to-day [February 5th] with the Prince de Bro-
glio, and go afterwards to Madame de Chastellux's. The
Prince of Hesse comes in, and tells us of what has passed
in Brabant relative to the reduction of 12,000 Hessian
troops which are sent for, and will probably arrive. This
comes exactly to the point which I have long suspected.
Mention, in consequence of what Madame de Chastellux
says, my opinion, which he contests a little, but on going
away he tells me it is all easy enough if the Prince of
Brunswick were at the head of affairs ; but this, he says,
is prevented by the Baron de Hertzberg. I find Madame
de Flahaut at dinner with Miss Fanny and Alice, nieces
of her religieuse. After dinner go with Madame de Fla
haut below to answer a letter. After returning to the
chamber, they contrive to keep me by simply locking the
door, and thus I am deprived of my intended visit to the
Commandant General. Go from hence to the house of
Madame de Vannoise. A Madame de Pusy, who is here,
seems to be on the lookout for aid. Go to Madame de La-
borde's. A Mrs. Williams, who is the wife of an English
artillery officer, and daughter of Doctor Mallett, the
friend of Lord Bolingbroke, makes acquaintance with me.
She pays me some compliments, which are too pungent
for my nerves, and, though they might have passed in
French, they revolt in English."

"While I am dining to-day [February loth] with Madame

i79o.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 293

de Flahaut, the Bishop comes in, and tells us the King's
advice to the Comte d'Angivilliers, which is curious. * Pray
be quiet, Count, for the times are difficult, and everyone
must take care of himself ; so that, if you censure the pres
ent measures, you may get yourself into trouble.' Go
hence to Madame de Chastellux's ; the Bishop's report of
an address from the Assemblee to their constituents is as
much censured here as it was applauded at M. de Lafay
ette's. I see M. de Montmorin, and tell him what has passed
specting the debt, and that in consequence I am going to
Holland. Go from hence to the Comedie Fran£aise. A
wretched piece. Take Madame de Flahaut home. Mon
sieur comes in from Versailles ; lend him my carriage to
go to the King's coucher. Tell her that I must go in a day
or two to Holland."

" Go to-day [February i3th] to M. Necker's to dinner.
After dinner, as I am going away, I ask if he has any com
missions for Amsterdam. He asks what leads me thither;
I tell him that I wish to divert the gentlemen there from
their present pursuits and bring them into my views. He
objects. Says he understands that the loan they have
opened is filled, and that he expects the Americans will
pay the debt, which is the best way. Thus it seems that
this plan is finally ruined. At Madame de Chastellux's,
to-night, the Comtesse de Segur tells me that on Wednes
day next M. Necker is to go to the Assemblee, and tell them
that upon the ist of March there will not be a shilling
in any chest belonging to the public. The Duchess comes
in ; the usual chit-chat."

"After dining with the Duchess of Orleans, go to La
fayette's [February i5th]. He takes me into his closet and
enters into conversation on the state of affairs. In the
course of conversation I ask him what situation their fron
tier towns are in toward Flanders. He gives but a dis-

294 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIII.

agreeable account of them, and complains of the Minister
at War, whose misconduct has aided the spirit of revolt
prevalent among the troops. I tell him that the enemies
of France must be extremely stupid if they do not attack
those places. He is much alarmed at the riots which still
rage in the provinces, and consults me as to a plan he has
in agitation for giving legal authority to quell them. Ap
prehensive that the officers of the municipality may not
appear on some occasions to head the military, he has, in
concurrence with M. Short, for this extraordinary occasion,
determined to authorize the commanding officer of the
troops to act alone. Thus these violent advocates of lib
erty adopt the measure most hostile to it. I oppose the
plan ; show him the evil consequences, personal and politi
cal. In reply to the question, what are they to do if the
municipalities will not make use of the authorities com
mitted to them, I first mark out the various penalties which
may be devised, but conclude that they will all prove in
sufficient, because the institution of the municipalities is
radically wrong. Predict to him that they will become
the sources of endless confusions, and of great debility,
but observe, at the same time, that they have flattered the
people with such extravagant notions of liberty that I see
it is out of their power to alter that organization until ex
perience may have made them wiser. Suggest the ap
pointment of commissioners as conservators to be sent into
each district. He thinks that the Assemblee will not agree
to give the King authority to name such commissioners.
Finally, however, we agree that it may be proper to de
clare, provisoirement) that certain commissioners already
named for other purposes shall be vested with the power
in question until the municipalities are organized. He
tells me that he must give the King a sugar-plum for his
speech to the Assembly. I smile, and tell him that he has

1790.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 295

no sugar-plum to give ; that they have already parcelled
out the executive authority in such way that they cannot
restore it to the monarch. He tells me that he has thought
of appointing St. Priest Minister at War, with Duportail
under him. I tell him that I do not know St. Priest, but
understand from one who does know him that he is faux,
and advise him to be clear on that point before he makes
him his master. As to Duportail, I say nothing, but I be
lieve him to be incapable because I believe him to be too
much a man-of the closet ; but I know that he has ideas
very different from Lafayette as to this revolution. I tell
Lafayette that their finances are in the high road to destruc
tion ; that anarchy seems to menace, and even already to
attack on every quarter ; wherefore they must, above all
things, secure the army, which promises to be the only ex
isting establishment. I tell him that if a war breaks out
they must conduct it on principles totally different from
those hitherto used ; that they must put strong garrisons
in their islands, and then abandon the ocean and totally
stop their commerce, which they will be unable to protect;
that such ships as they can fit out must be sent to cruise
as privateers ; that they must march with all the force
they can muster directly into Holland, and endeavor to
possess themselves of that country. I have not time to
develop these ideas, but if needful I will take an oppor
tunity to put them on paper. Mr. Short tells me that La
fayette consulted him, with others, this morning about the
means of quelling riots. Go from hence to Madame de
Stael's. Stay but a little while. She desires me to bring her
a novel from England, if any good one comes out. She has
been told that I speak ill of her. I tell her it is not true."
"The morning of February the i6th, prepare for my
journey to Holland, get a passport and maps, bid Madame
de Flahaut adieu, and at eleven on the iyth leave Paris."

296 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIV.

CHAPTER XIV.

Journey to Antwerp. Brussels. Reflections on the state of Flanders.
Vanderhoot's committee. Notes on the cathedral and galleries of
Antwerp. Supper at M. Cornelison's. Agreeable society of Antwerp.
Notes during the journey to Amsterdam. Evening in Madame Bost's
salon. Political discussions. Force of the Dutch navy. Scene on
the Merchants' Exchange at Amsterdam. News from France of
Necker's resignation. The Hague. The churches at Delft. Crosses
to England. Interview with the Duke of Leeds on the treaty and
despatch of a minister to the United States. News from Paris.
Pointed opposition to Necker. Visits Sir John Sinclair. Letter to
Colonel Ternant. Meets Fox at dinner. Mrs. Jordan at Drury Lane
Theatre. Warren Hastings's trial. Criticism on Burke and Fox.
Brilliant ball at Mrs. John B. Church's.

MORRIS'S journey to Antwerp was not marked by
any particular adventures. Rather uncomfort
able inns, extortionate landlords, and lazy horses are the
principal experiences he notes. "Through France," he
says, " I find that the decree of the Assembly respecting
the monks was very much hazarded and is disagreeable to
the people in general. The appearance of the houses and
people in Flanders announces a milder government than
that of the country we have quitted. Parts of the country
abound in coal, and the pits are now worked to advantage
by the aid of steam-engines. This article seems all which
was wanted for the wealth of Flanders, and if in the pres
ent ferment they should (by being annexed to Holland or
otherwise) get the Scheldt opened, it will be difficult to
conjecture what will be the extent of their wealth.

" At Brussels I see in the Grande Place the Milice Bour-

1790.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS.

geoise. Valor may supply these people with something in
stead of discipline, but I am inclined to think that their
fate must be decided by other force than that of this coun
try. I learn that the popular party, joined to the nobility,
begins to show itself here against the clergy, but the
monks have the advantage in the villages."

"At Malines," says the diary for February 2ist, "the peo
ple are disposed to subject themselves to the Stadtholder
and form one country with Holland. They dislike the con
duct of the States, at least so says an intelligent fellow of a
waiter, and he seems as likely to understand the sentiments
of his fellow-citizens as anybody. I ask him if the relig
ion of the two countries will not form an obstacle. He
says it is thought not, for that many of the Dutch begin to
become converts to the Catholic faith, ' which is not to be
wondered at, because man cannot continue forever on this earth.'
I express my joy at this happy circumstance and add my
opinion that the Dutch believe in God ; but this is ex
pressed with an air of doubt which requires further in
formation. 'Yes, sir, they believe in God, but not in the
Holy Virgin, and, besides, they eat flesh upon fast days ;
wherefore you see that they are in a very dangerous way.'
I acknowledge the force of this observation. At Antwerp
I overtake M. Grand, who left Paris near three days be
fore me ; but by sundry accidents to his carriage he has
been delayed for nearly that space of time. He departs
to-morrow. Asks the news of Paris, and communicates
what he has heard in his way. We converse a little on
politics and I give him the result of my reflections on the
state of this country, which is, that the true interest of
Holland is that it should be a republic and, as such, a bar
rier against France. The Scheldt will then continue to
be shut up for the benefit of Amsterdam and Rotterdam.
The interest of France is to possess this country, by which

298 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIV.

means she keeps all enemies at a most respectful distance,
and the interest of this country is to become subject to
Britain, for by that means only can they enjoy the benefit
of an extensive commerce.

"M. Grand tells me [February 22d] that M. Necker wants
the money which has been borrowed by the Dutch houses.
After he leaves me I visit M. de Wolf, and we enter upon
business immediately. Visit M. Van Ertborn and converse
with him about the situation of the politics of this coun
try. In the course of conversation he tells me that the
people here have more capital than good use for it, but
they are wary of speculations and loans, many affairs of
that kind having turned out badly. They are generally
of opinion here that France must make soon a bankruptcy.
It is made long since. Dalton is dead, but it is yet a dis
pute whether by poison, pistol, or gout. Vanderhoot is
of a committee called the Secret Committee. He is to
be in town to-morrow. That committee, a kind of self-
elected body, have, it is said, made some kind of treaty
with foreign powers. I doubt that fact much. A young
man who arrives from Brussels, and is in the patriot army,
gives but a wretched account of the Etats-Generaux. Al
ready there has been a riot at Brussels, in which they say
one person lost his life. In consequence, Vanderhoot, as
the representative of the Nation, has published a placard pur
porting that the States act only as representatives of the
people, in whom the sovereignty resides."

" Breakfast [February 27th] with M. Dubois. He gives
me the French gazettes. The Marquis de Favras is, I
find, condemned and executed. He died bravely, and I
believe unjustly. But a sacrifice was, I suppose, deemed to
be necessary. After breakfast we go to the cathedral, and
there view the famous 'Descent from the Cross,' painted
by Rubens. It is done with dreadful exactitude. Another

1790.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 299

fine picture in this church is the ' Beatification of the
Blessed Virgin,' which appears to have been completed by
Rubens in fifteen days, and to have been paid for at the rate
of 100 florins per day. His receipt has been discovered for
this picture charged in that way. From the cathedral in
stead of going, as we at first intended, to visit some gal
leries of paintings, we go to the house of M. Van Ertborn
to see the triumphal entry of M. Vanderhoot. On this
occasion the troops are all turned out under arms, and we
have as fine a procession as the city can afford. It is, in
fact, very splendid, and the hero of the day enters amid
the repeated acclamations of his fellow- citizens. Van
Eupon, the Secretary of the States, accompanies him, and
is also one of the pillars of the Revolution.

"Go to dine with M. de Wolf. Mr. Westbrook and his
lady are here, also a colonel in the British service, a Ger
man, whose object at Antwerp is to make a loan for the
Prince of Wales and the Dukes of York and Clarence.
Mr. Westbrook assures me that the revolution is to be at
tributed entirely to Vanderhoot. The colonel tells me
that Yorktown in Virginia was taken by the French troops
only, and that the Americans looked on at a distance. I
hope, for the honor of Mr. Vanderhoot, that the one piece
of information is more just than the other. I take the
liberty to put the colonel right, which might as well per
haps have been let alone, but I could not resist the pro
pensity. We have a very good fish dinner, for this is a
maigre day. Go with M. Dubois to a concert. We are
in the box of Madame with her sister, the Comtesse d'Otro-
inonde, and their father, the Comte d'Aes, who informs
me that news are arrived announcing with certainty the
Emperor's death. The Comte d'Otromonde and his lady
repeat a very polite invitation to dine on Monday, as I
could not be of their party this day, but I must depart for

3<DO DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIV.

Amsterdam. After waiting about half an hour Vander-
hoot comes in, and is received by loud acclamations,
which are repeated at every interval during the concert.
After he goes out they continue singing different songs to
his honor in the French and Flemish languages. The
former are more estimable for the sentiment than for the
poetry, and the latter I do not understand. With my pen
cil I write on a card and give to the ladies my tribute of
applause in English, which they do not understand, and
are therefore at liberty to believe that it is excellent.

Let freedom's friends from every clime

Here virtue's noble triumph see.
Hail, Vanderhoot ! to latest time

Thy name shall still remember'd be.

For thee the patriot's breast shall glow,
For thee the grateful song shall rise,

On thee celestial choirs bestow
A place distinguish'd in the skies.

From the concert we take a turn in the coach of Ma
dame Dubois through the town to see the illuminations,
and then go to supper at M. Cornelison's, who married the
sister of M. Dubois. The burgundy here is transcend-
ently good, but though of generous quality and generously
bestowed, I feel not the desire to pour out large libations.
After supper the conversation turns on the politics and
revolution of this country. The master of the house,
who seems to be much indisposed to the authority assumed
by the States, and is not perhaps a very great friend to the
revolution, gives us a history of it in his way ; and as some
dispute arises, I am able to collect from the whole conver
sation that a much greater portion of the success is to be
attributed to the misconduct of the Austrian troops than
to the vigor of the patriots either in body or mind. And
it seems also to be pretty clear that the members of the

i79o.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 3OI

States are of that species which is called good sort of men ;
and, indeed, if I might judge from Vanderhoot's counte
nance, he, also, is rather distinguishable for bonhomie than
for talents. Those who are called the Tiers Etat are rep
resentatives rather of the sovereign than of the people,
from the manner in which the elections are made ; and as
the nobles are hereditary, and the clergy are more proper
ly a profession than a political order, it must be confessed
that such an assemblage (originally possessed by their con
stitution of a share of the legislative authority, and now
by their own assumption possessed of the remainder, and
of the whole executive authority) does not seem likely to
render the condition of the people very agreeable should
this form of government be finally established. But I
cannot but think it more prudent to secure the country
first against the late sovereign, and afterwards, when the
revolution is completed, put their internal affairs in order.

" The English nation seems to be more agreeable to the
inhabitants of this country than either the Dutch or
French. I do not exactly see the reason of this, nor do I
recollect anything in their history which should have given
rise to this preference. The shutting up of the Scheldt
seems naturally enough to account for a rooted dislike of
the Dutch, and perhaps they are too near neighbors for
the French to be very much attached to them, for among
nations as with individuals near neighbors are seldom good
friends."

" After dining to-day [February 28th] with M. de Wolf
we behold the procession of M. Vanderhoot, who is about
to depart, and who is escorted from the city with as much
pomp as was yesterday displayed to receive him. Later
in the evening M. Dubois takes me to his brother's to
sup. After supper the conversation is accidentally turned
to religion, and a gentleman present observes that in all

302 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIV.

countries there is an established religion. I assure him
that there is none in America. We are led too far on this
head, for this country is too ignorant as yet to understand
the true principles of human policy with respect to relig
ion, and too bigoted, so that truths almost universally ac
knowledged appear almost like atheism. At least such is
my conjecture, from the countenances of the company,
when I tell them that God is sufficiently powerful to do
his own business without human aid, and that man should
confine his care to the actions of his fellow-creatures, leav
ing to that Being to influence the thoughts as he may
think proper."

March ist, Morris left Antwerp and proceeded to Am
sterdam. "My short residence in this city," he says, "has
attached me to the society I was in, so that I leave it with
regret." The business which occasioned his visit was
not without result, for he and De Wolf "agreed as to ways
and means of operating hereafter in the American debt."
On his way he observes that "the whole country on the
right is laid waste, and the greater part is under water.
The appearance as we approach is terrible, for it looks
like a wide ocean which we are to cross on a strip of land.
The fact, I find, is that the dyke was broken down by the
river, and the torrent swept away everything. It appears
to have been done a year or two ago, and is at present re
paired, but this is only a specimen of the state which
seems to threaten, though perhaps at a very remote period,
this extraordinary country. A great part of it is very
much below the level of the water, and therefore the small
est perforation of the bank would let in the inundation at
any time. The texture of these dykes also appears to me
to be nothing more than the common earth thrown up.
If so, a cargo of musk-rats would do them more serious
mischief than an hundred thousand men, provided that

1790-1 GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 303

animal could exist in this climate, and I see no reason why
it should not. After we leave this theatre of destruction
we go along a very considerable distance with the Haarlem
Meer (a very large lake communicating near to the city of
Amsterdam with the ocean). On our left and on our right
the turf grounds are under water, the road too narrow
to admit of more than one carriage for a great part of the
way, and the Haarlem Meer (perhaps swelled by the tide)
is nearly on a level with us. This is as dreary and dis
agreeable a ride as can be wished. At a little before four
we are set down at the 'Arms of Amsterdam,' so that we
have been nine hours on the road."

"Go to see M. Hope on business of the American debt
[March 4th]. The envoy from Prussia to Portugal comes
in. At dinner the conversation turns a little upon the
state of Europe, and the envoy seems to think that the
Archduke will be chosen Emperor if he will make the
needful sacrifices, one of which (and, indeed, the principal
one) is to give up the alliance with the Empress of Russia
and make peace with the Turk. He seems to suppose
that he may by this means recover the possession of
Flanders. Go hence to Madame Host's. A very gen
eral company and excellent music. The salon is very
handsome, and decorated with valuable pictures by
the greatest masters. French politics are immediately
broached, and I find that they are of the Orange party,
consequently glad to see the miseries which the Revolu
tion has brought upon France. I endeavor to show that
the state of things in France was such as to necessitate a
change of some sort, and although they have, as is natural,
gone into an extreme, yet there is reason to hope that, see
ing their error, they will return. Insensibly we come to
ward Holland, and in reply to an observation of Madame
I observe that this country appears to me in a situation as

304 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIV.

precarious as any other in Europe ; that they cannot long
continue what they now are, but must descend of necessity
by the weight of irresistible circumstances. This calls out
M. Bost (a man of sense and information), and in the
spirit of argument he communicates useful facts, which
are nevertheless in confirmation of the opinion he com
bats. I tell him that the individual wealth of the country
resulting from the accumulated interest of money lent is
fatal to the public wealth ; that it has from natural causes
banished manufactures, and that their agriculture, circum
scribed within narrow bounds, cannot bear any further im
positions ; consequently the revenue cannot be increased.
And as their commerce, though positively greater than in
the last century, is comparatively much less, that source
of public wealth is drying up the competition of people
whose natural position gives them advantages. For the
commerce here, being that of an intermediary between
other nations, renders a profit only to the merchant with
out adding anything to the general mass. M. Bost in reply
to this says that the wealth depending on manufactures is
not only precarious but a felo de se, and necessarily de
structive of itself, because it must so raise the price of
labor as to give to other countries an advantageous com
petition. He is mistaken, but I think it best to let him en
joy his mistake. Besides, it is time to go to the concert.

" We have very good music. I ask an officer of the navy
the state of their army and navy. He tells me they have
fifty ships of the line and as many frigates ; their army
consists of 3,000 infantry and 2,000 artillery, and as many
cavalry. These last are some of the finest in Europe. I
ask Mr. Bost how much the tax of the twenty-fifth penny
yielded here. He tells me that it produced in the province
of Holland eighty millions of guelders."

" The news from France to-day [March 6th] is that M.

I790-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 305

Necker is to go to the Assemblee and propose apian of
finance which will put everything to rights, and this they
seem to be convinced of. La Chaise had told me last
evening that things were going on very badly in their
finances, and that M. Necker has the jaundice ; thus the
same post brings very different accounts of the same
thing."

" Go to the exchange [March roth], which is a very
curious scene. Jan Willinks takes me upstairs to a win
dow to show it more fully. A general meeting, this, of
the representatives of the earth. Each merchant has his
stand, and the brokers, who are as busy as it is possible for
men to be, keep constantly applying to them on one sub
ject or another. Go to the French Theatre, and sit in the
Burgomaster's box immediately behind Madame Bost and
Madame Hasselaer. I find that this latter was acquainted
at Spa with my brother, General Morris. She says that
his wife is a very amiable woman. Learn the news from
France, which is that Necker has announced that he must
retire, and proposes to stop payment for a year, also to
issue paper money (at least, so says the abstract of his
speech). These, wild measures must ruin the exchange
and stocks."

" Dine [March i3th] with W. Willinks (enfamille). Our
company consists of his children, with their private tutors
and a professor, who is, he says, a very learned man ; also
a student under that professor. By this means we are ten
at table, and Madame places me in an arm-chair at the end
of it. She sits on my right, and Monsieur on my left. Two
dishes of cod, one at each end, some potatoes in the middle,
the cod's liver boiled in one sauce-boat and butter boiled
in the other, form the first course. With the aid of some
mustard, I take in a sufficient quantity of the fish to be cov
ered against contingencies. When this service is removed,

20

306 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIV.

the potatoes are replaced by a piece of boiled beef, and the
dish of fish next me is in like manner replaced by two
miserable chickens, or rather fowls, whose sharp breast
bones complain of the fire by which the little juice they
once might boast of has been dried away. A watery sauce
which surrounds them can but ill supply the defect of
nature and the waste of art. A flat pudding at the other
end, and four plates of greasy vegetables at the corners,
make up this second course. The dessert is a little better
as to quantity, but the quality shows that the principles of
a rigid economy have been duly attended to. The wines,
however, might give that indigestion against which the
due precautions have been taken in the dinner, but from
a similar cause, there is little danger of excess. Some in
sipid Cape Madeira figures in the dessert, with some sweet
wine which is called White Cape. The conversation is like
the feast, and turns upon business. I have but little reason
to be satisfied with it ; however, time and chance produce
strange revolutions on this globe. We shall see."

" To-day [March i6th] we embark in M. Willinks's yacht
for Saardam. It is a flat-bottomed vessel, with leeboards,
and is broader in proportion to the length than a periau-
ger. It is rigged sloop-fashion. At Saardam I am made
to remark the old-fashioned dress, and am struck with what
is not pointed out ; viz., the manner of arranging the hair
as I have seen it in old pictures of the time of Louis XIV.,
in little ringlets on the forehead. A girl of about fifteen,
with auburn locks in that style, a clear complexion, and
rosy cheeks, looks like one of the woodland nymphs of
ancient poesy. Another thing pointed out to me is, I be
lieve, peculiar to this part of the world — a mortuary door,
which is never opened but to take away a corpse."

" 1 hear [March ipth] that the Committee of Finance
have made severe strictures on Necker's plan, and repro-

1790.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 307

bated in particular the idea of a board of commissioners
of the treasury, chosen from out of the Assemblee. They
recommend also a paper money, bearing interest, which
they think will not depreciate, and in this I think they are
very much mistaken. Time only can show the worth of
that measure. The exchange in the meantime, and the
effets royaux, continue to fall. I go to the older Madame
Capadoces, but the young ladies of the family are here.
Madame Caton receives well my advances. Madame Sara
seems to have more understanding than her sister-in-law.
She is equally beautiful, though in a different style, and
has an air moins lubrique, but her eyes speak the language
of that sentiment which warms and melts the heart. No
pulse but the beat of delight, no sound but the murmur
of joy. Heaven knoweth best, ye fair daughters of Sion,
if ever it will be my lot to behold you again. All which
I can do is to raise some gentle prepossessions not un
favorable to future efforts, should chance again place me
within that circle where you fill so bright a space. I find
that rny adorations are not illy received by the fair Sara,
and that the delicious Caton is less pleased than she ex
pected at those worshippings. Tant mieux. We retire after
one o'clock, which is not the way to preserve health, I be
lieve."

Morris left Amsterdam on the 22d, with assurances
from Mr. John Willinks that if it were possible they would
effect his object in regard to the debt question. The
Hague was the next stopping-place, and the following
morning, immediately after breakfast, he went to Scheven-
ingen, then " a little fishing-village " merely. "The road is
straight, level, and paved with brick. We go directly
through the dunes or sand-hills, which, viewed in their ex
tent northward along the coast, have somewhat the shape
and appearance of a troubled sea. A small ascent from

308 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIV.

Scheveningen of five or six feet presents to my view the
German ocean. Three fishing-vessels lie on the beach.
Their leeboards are made of one plank only, and are long ;
the vessels short, and by no means clean-built. They are
not quite flat-bottomed, but nearly so. My guide tells me
that they have a great commerce for fish. At present they
are packing up skate for Brabant. Returning, we go to
the prince's cabinet of paintings. There are here several
very good pieces — and some indifferent; a * Venus' and
an ' Eve,' both by Rubens. Dine, and depart for Rotter
dam. Stop at Delft and visit two churches. In the one
are the monuments of Van Tromp and another admiral ;
in the other church is the monument of the great Nassau,
first Stadtholder, murdered in this city by a person whom
the Spanish had'hired for the purpose. At the feet of the
hero is represented his faithful dog, who, when his master
was slain, would neither eat nor drink, and so perished in
affectionate and sorrowful attendance. Poor, worthy creat
ure ! In this church is also the monument of Grotius.
Over the Stadtholder are represented two weeping Cupids,
but nothing can be more ludicrous than their grimaces.
From hence we proceed to Rotterdam, and arrive at half-
past six, having been but three hours. Mr. Gregory, I find,
has engaged a packet, and the next morning [March 24th]
we take a wagon and cross over to Helvoetsluys. The
weather is very warm, the violets are in full bloom, and I
pick up on a slope of the works which faces the sun a
mushroom very large, but too old to be eaten. We dis
appoint our host in not dining with him, and in taking
one bottle only of his wine for our sea-stores. Set sail
with a wind directly ahead and the tide almost done, con
sequently with but little prospect of getting to sea this
evening. At low-water it falls calm, and we cast anchor
about two leagues below Helvoet. Captain Bridges seems

I790-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 309

to be a good-natured, honest fellow ; his mate, with a sour
though not sober countenance, looks ineffable contempt at
the passengers ; I suppose, because they are not seamen.
A fine evening closes this day."

Fifty hours after sailing Morris was landed safely at
Harwich on Saturday, March 27th, whence he proceeded
immediately to London. " The season here," he says, "is
very far advanced. The primroses, the violets, and many
fruit-trees are in full bloom. The rape-seed, also, is in
blossom. Arrive at five o'clock at Froome's Hotel, Covent
Garden. Go to bed at ten o'clock, and am but just fairly
nestled there, when my brother, General Morris, arrives.
My sister is also at the door, but does not come in. The
object was to take me home to supper. Am to breakfast
with them at ten to-morrow."

"This morning [March 28th], at ten, I go to General
Morris's. A very sisterly reception from his lady. Stay
and chat till near twelve, then visit the Marquis de la Lu-
zerne, ambassador from France. He tells me the news
from Paris, and in reply to my question of who is to re
place Necker, he says that the story of his going away is
all fabricated by Calonne. I tell him that I am persuaded
that he will quit, and that I do not consider it as a mis
fortune. I find, however, that he is much an advocate of
M. Necker and his measures. This is extraordinary, for
he has, I think, good sense enough to see the faults which
have been committed. Call on the Duke of Leeds, who is
not at home ; leave a card and tell the porter I will write
a note. Go to the Due de Luxembourg's ; admitted
with difficulty ; his son receives the letter with which I
am charged by his brother, the Duke being in bed. Re
turn home ; write a note to the Duke of Leeds, asking to
know the time when it will be most convenient for his
grace to receive certain communications which Mr. Morris

310 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIV.

is desired to make in a semi-official capacity to His Majes
ty's ministers by the President of the United States of
America. Go to the French ambassador's to dinner.
The Vicomtesse says she has a great deal to say about the
affairs of France when she sees me with less company.
Return home, and find a note from the Duke of Leeds,
giving me a rendez-vous for to-morrow at half-past two.
I told the Marquis de la Luzerne this morning that I was
directed to call on the ministry here for a performance of
the treaty, and enjoined him to secrecy. (He told it every
where.) I think it prudent to be in a situation to say al
ways to the French Court that every step taken by us has
been with their privity."

" Monday [March 29th], at the appointed hour I go to
Whitehall, and communicate to the Duke of Leeds* Wash
ington's letter to me. He expresses himself with some
warmth of approbation. * I am very happy, Mr. Morris,
to see this letter, and under the President's own hand. I
assure you it is very much my wish to cultivate a friendly
and commercial intercourse between the two countries,
and more, and I can answer for the rest of His Majesty's
servants that they are of the same opinion.' ' I am very
happy, my Lord, to find that such sentiments prevail, for
we are too near neighbors not to be either very good
friends or very dangerous enemies.' After more profes
sions from him I mention the points of the treaty which
remain to be performed, and observe that, by the Consti-

* In October, 1789, Washington wrote to Morris, and desired him, in " the
capacity of private agent and on the authority and credit of this letter, to con
verse with His Britannic Majesty's ministers on these points ; viz., whether
there be any, and what objections to performing those articles in the treaty
which remain to be performed on his part, and whether they incline to a
treaty of commerce with the United States on any, and what terms? " The
office of Secretary of State being at this time unfilled, Washington, to avoid
delays, made this communication under his own hand. This letter is the one
referred to in Morris's interview with the Duke of Leeds.

I790-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 311

tution of the United States, which he has certainly read,
all obstacles to the recovery of British debts are removed,
and that if any doubt could have remained it is now obvi
ated by the organization of a Federal court which has cog
nizance of all causes arising under the treaty. He is very
happy to receive this information. I then mention that I
believe there are two points which remain to be fulfilled
on their part : viz., as to the Posts and compensation for
negroes taken away ; that perhaps, as to the first, they may
have sent out orders since the President's letter was writ
ten. He does not exactly know the situation. As to the
last, he had long wished that something had been done,
but something or another had always interfered. He
changed the conversation, which I bring back, and which
he changes again. It is evident, therefore, that he is at
present confined to general assurances. I tell him that
there was a little circumstance which operated very disa
greeably in America. He interrupts me : ' I know what
you are going to speak about, our not sending out a min
ister. I wished to send you one, but then I wished to
have a man everyway equal to the task, a man of abilities,
and one agreeable to the people of America, but it was
difficult; it is a great way off.' 'My Lord, you cannot
want men well qualified, and I am certain that there are
many who will be glad to accept it.' He again changes
the conversation. I therefore observe that he will prob
ably choose to consider this matter a little, and to examine
the American Constitution, the treaty of peace, etc. He
says that he should. I tell him that I shall be glad to
receive his answer as speedily as may be. He promises
despatch. In the course of the conversation he mentioned
a letter he had written to Mr. Adams, in which he ex
pressed the opinion that the performance of the treaty
should be article by article, as they stood in order. I re-

312 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIV.

ply that my private opinion had always been that it would
be proper for us to execute the treaty fully on our part,
and then call for execution by them, for that if each were
to delay until the other should act, all treaties would be
illusory. He agreed in the propriety of the observation.
I left [Washington's] letter with him, which he is to have
copied and returned."

"Mr. Church engages me to dine with him on Friday
[March 3oth], enfamille. He goes to find Charles Fox and
ask him to meet me."

The following sprightly society letter Morris de
spatched to Mr. Short at Paris, to be by him shown to
the disconsolate fair ones he had left behind, and who
complained of his silence. "Place me before them grace
fully," he wrote, "and assure them that they can at least
own that it is only in my absence that such complaints can
have any foundation. But truth is that I did not like to
write through Flanders, because the government are by
no means deficient in curiosity and not over-delicate in
the means of satisfying it. I hereby authorize you, how
ever, to say for me all which I ought to say and to do all
which I ought to do. I would deputize you to the hand
ling of Madame de C 's tea-pot, but, since everything

now goes by election, I cannot hazard such encroachment
upon the droits de r/iomme. Be persuaded, however, of my
perfectly good wishes that you may be found worthy to
fill the department. You will lay me at the feet of her
R. H. Happy position ! there to kneel and there adore.
Assure her of my lowliest worshippings. To the charm
ing Comtesse de S , try to say what I have often felt

but could never express. In Madame d'H — det — t's cir
cle, give every assurance which may be proper ; I hold
myself bound in honor not to belie you. Madame de La-
b will, I hope, always believe in my respectful ad-

1790.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 313

miration. You will see then Madame de F , to whom

present my remembrances. Supply on every occasion
my omissions, and command me under similar circum
stances. I will obey as well as I can."

" The French ambassador tells rne the news from Paris
to-day [April ist] at dinner. Things are going on badly.
The Assembly have reiterated to the King their refusal to
comply with his wish to choose a treasury board out of
their body. The pointed opposition to M. Necker be
comes now manifest. He seems much affected by the situ
ation of things, and tells me that within the last six months
they have done much evil, in which sentiment I cordially
agree. The Duchesse de Biron is here and Madame de
Boufflers, to which last I present remembrances from the
Marechal de Segur, but I believe I have mistaken the per
son who gave me that commission."

"Visit Sir John Sinclair [April 4th], from whom I re
ceived a note last evening requesting it. Various conver
sation. Just before I come away I ask him whether they
have made any alteration in their American trade bill and
intercourse bill. He says they have not. I ask what are
their intentions on that subject. He says they are of
opinion that trade can best regulate itself. I smile, and tell
him that I am very much of the same opinion, but that con
sistently with it we should abstain from all restrictions."

Almost as a Frenchman Morris mourned over the con
dition of France, as he saw how feeble her men were,
how little fitted for the task suddenly imposed upon them.
In the following letters to Colonel Ternant and Mr. Short,
who were both in Paris, he expresses his feelings very
forcibly. "The present moment," he wrote to Colonel
Ternant, "teems with great events. Would to God that,
in a certain city which you have sometimes seen, there
were great men established to meet with proper dignity

314 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIV.

the greatness of those incidents which will be hourly pro
duced." And later, writing to Mr. Short, he says : "I have
very little doubt in my mind either as to the progress or
event of things in France. Early in July I formed event
ual opinions, and events in August and early in Septem
ber rendered them absolute. Hitherto facts have shown
them to be just. If the two hundred millions given to the
municipality of Paris were what they are supposed to be,
value t the consequences you fear might take effect, but they
are among those things whose ultimate basis resolves itself
into opinion, and opinion cannot be restored until they
shall have undone much of what they have done, and done
many things of different complexion. Among those who
are now at the helm there is neither the mind to conceive,
the heart to dare, nor the hand to execute such things.
They will therefore continue to pile up system upon sys
tem, without advancing one inch. The dreadful primeval
curse is repeated upon them all. Paper thou art, and unto
paper shalt thou return. I deeply bemoan these things,
for I love France sincerely. ... It was not from
what I found in Amsterdam that I was deterred from
pursuing the propositions to M. Necker, but the convic
tion that his expectations have been so raised as to shut
his ears to anything which could with safety be proposed,
and I have not enough of the knight-errant in my com
position to go beyond that line."

" If I am not mistaken," the diary continues, " it will be
proper to be intimate at the French ambassador's, to a
certain point. At dinner to-day we have a long conversa
tion on the state of French politics. He tells me that he
thinks Lafayette and M. Necker ought to coalesce, as the
only means of saving France. I tell him that his idea
may be good, but I am sure it will not take effect. He
asks if Mr. Jefferson was not much consulted in the be-

I790-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 315

ginning of the Revolution. I tell him that I believe he
was, and fear that his ideas were in many respects too
democratical. He speaks of Jefferson with much con
tempt as a statesman and as one who is better formed for
the interior of Virginia than to influence the operations
of a great people. I own that I am rather surprised at
this sentiment, because Mr. Jefferson has in general ex
cited favorable ideas of his intellectual faculties. Go
from hence to Mrs. Low's rout ; a number of Americans
there. Among the guests is Mrs. Mallet, who still looks
toward triumph, and has a less unnatural manner than
she had about fifteen years ago. She seems not unwilling
to extend her dominion, but this will not do for me."

"A pretty numerous company at Sir John Sinclair's to
day [April pth] at dinner — chiefly literati, I believe. A
Mr. Irwin of the customs, a statesman, is, I find, decidedly
opposed to America, and he is, if an enemy, a dangerous
one, because he can always produce just such matter as he
pleases. At present his hobby-horse is to force the people
of this island, even by starvation, to raise as much corn as
they want. I foolishly enter into a little argument with
him on that subject; 'twould have been better to let him
enjoy his opinions, and to inculcate them. What I say turns
upon the point that the labor applied to husbandry cannot
so certainly insure its object as that employed upon manu
factures. The favorable or unfavorable season will de
cide on the harvest, in spite of all human endeavors."

"Mr. R. Penn tells me [April nth] that he thinks it
probable I shall be appointed minister to this Court. I
tell him that if I express an opinion, it will be not to ap
point a minister. He expresses his surprise at this senti
ment, which I justify on the ground that their present
rulers do not wish to form a connection with America.
Go from hence to Mr. Church's. They are just got back ;

3l6 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP, XIV.

he is from Newmarket, where he has lost money. I prom
ise to meet Charles Fox at dinner on Saturday. Visit
Lady Tancred. She seems more indebted for her beauties
to art than I had imagined at the first view. I learn that
she is sister to my old friend General Montgomery."

" General Morris calls on me this morning [April i6th]
to inform me of a mechanic who can make wooden legs
very well. I desire that he may call on me to-morrow.
At half-past two Mr. Penn calls, and dines. We then go
down to the House of Commons. He endeavors to pro
cure admission for me under the galleries as a foreigner,
which the speaker refuses, because I have not been pre
sented at Court. Madame de la Luzerne showed me this
evening a letter from her mother, or mother-in-law, men
tioning that M. Necker was to be denounced to the Na
tional Assembly, and that both parties are violent against
him. She tells me also that Lafayette is opposed to him.
This I knew before, but appeared not to know it, and even
endeavored to account for it on a supposition that they
may have differed lately about the taking of a board of
treasury out of the National Assembly. My friend the
Marquis de la Luzerne is violently opposed, I find, to the
Assembly, but in favor of M. Necker. Return home be
tween twelve and one, and sit some time reading the livre
rouge which M. Barthelemi gave me the perusal of this
afternoon."

"This morning [April iyth] after breakfast a mechanic
arrives who is to make a leg. Upon examination of the
stump he says that I shall be able to take the benefit of
the knee-joint. If this be so it will certainly be an im
provement, but he acknowledges that the machinery will
be less solid than the simple stick which I now use."
Morris met Charles James Fox at dinner this evening at
Mr. Church's. "Mr. Fox," he says, "does not arrive till

I79Q.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 3 1/

seven. He has been detained by the Duke of York. We
sat pretty late after dinner, and I observe that Mr. Fox
scrutinizes me closely to see what I am. I give him all
opportunity for that purpose. His manners are simple.
He speaks lightly of Chatham, who, says he, was a fortu
nate man, and that the successes in the war were to be attrib
uted to a measure of his father's, which was the capture
of the French ships and seamen before the Declaration ; I
observe that it was also to be attributed to the great force
sent out to America by Lord Chatham. In the course of
conversation I ask him what system the present adminis
tration have with respect to America. He says that he
thinks they have not as yet adopted any ; that he does not
imagine Mr. Pitt will take any trouble about the matter,
but will leave it to Lord Hawkesbury and Mr. Grenville,
who are both of them indisposed to us, whereas Pitt him
self is rather friendly than otherwise. I ask him the char
acter of the Duke of Leeds. He speaks of him contemptu
ously, but says he takes upon himself a little lately. He
says that he and Burke are now almost alone in their
opinion that we should be permitted to trade in our own
bottoms to their islands ; that this opinion loses ground
daily, though for his part he persists in it. I tell him that
it is a solid principle of policy, for that our position ren
ders the islands so materially dependent on us that they
should make it our interest to keep them in possession ;
that further, if we choose to lay them under disadvan
tages in our ports, we can materially injure their naviga
tion, whereas the admission of our vessels into their isl
ands can do them no harm in that respect. All this is
true, but I suspect that we shall be obliged in America to
give them the conviction of their senses."

" This morning [April 2oth] I go immediately after
breakfast to a leg-maker and have my right leg taken in

318 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIV.

plaster of Paris, as a model by which to make the left leg
of copper. By the awkwardness of the workman I am
long detained, and obliged to have a second copy made ;
in fact, he has not one needful thing, which is a box for
taking the model by. Get a model made of the stump
also, so as to prevent the necessity of frequent sittings to
have the cushions fitted. I am detained under these op
erations until after four o'clock. Dress, and go to the
French ambassador's to dine. A young gentleman is
there who I have often seen at the Baron de Besenval's.
He is just arrived ; he came in company with Mr. Crosby.
That circle are all in good health. I find that the debates
have been very outrageous in Paris, and things seem to be
verging fast towards change."

" To-day [April 23d] I dine with my brother, General
Morris. The company are a Lady Cundliffe, with her
daughters, Mrs. Drummond Smith and Miss Cundliffe ;
the Marquis of Huntly, Lord Eglinton, General Murry,
Mr. Drummond Smith (who, they tell me, is one of the
richest commoners in England), and Colonel Morrison of
the Guards. After dinner there is a great deal of com
pany collected in the drawing-room, to some of whom I
am presented ; the Ladies Hays, who are very handsome,
Lady Tancred and her sister, and Miss Byron are here,
Mr. and Mrs. Montresor. I am particularly presented
to Colonel Morrison, who is the quartermaster-general
of this kingdom, and whose daughter also is here. She
has a fine, expressive countenance, and is, they tell me,
of such a romantic turn of mind as to have refused
many good offers of marriage because she did not like the
men. I have some little conversation with Mrs. Smith
after dinner. She appears to have good dispositions for
making a friendly connection, as far as one may venture to
judge by the glance of the eye. Visit Mrs. Cosway, and

i79o.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 319

find here Lady Townsend, with her daughter-in-law and
daughter. The conversation here (as, indeed, everywhere
else) turns on the man (or rather monster) who for several
days past has amused himself with cutting and wounding
women in the streets. One unhappy victim of his in
human rage is dead. Go from hence to Drury Lane Thea
tre. The pieces we went to see were not acted, but in
stead, 'Twelfth Night' and 'The Spoiled Child.' This
last is said to have been written by Mrs. Jordan. She
plays excellently in it, and so, indeed, she does in the prin
cipal piece."

" Two tickets have been given me for the trial of Warren
Hastings. Call upon La Caze [April 29th], and take him
with me. We wait till past two before the Lords come
down, and then, after a decision against the managers upon
a former question, much time is consumed in complaint
against that decision. A witness being then called up
and a question proposed to him, an objection is raised by
the counsel as being within the decision just delivered. A
long argument on this subject from the managers, which
the counsel very properly reply to by their silence, and, the
opinion of the Lords being clear, the question is given up
without a formal declaration of that opinion. Shortly
after, another question is proposed to the witness, which is
objected to, and hereupon arises a serious argument. The
speakers this day are Burke and Fox. The former has
quickness and genius, but he is vague, loose, desultory,
and confused. Mr. Fox has not the needful self-possession
to make a great speaker. He is obliged to abstract him
self so much in pursuit of the matter that he is extremely
deficient in manner. He is a slovenly speaker, but he is
acute and discerns well. He does not sufficiently convey
to others the distinctions which he feels ; his mind appears
like a clouded sun, and this I believe results from the life

320 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIV,

he leads. Temperance, application, and the possession of
competence with moderation to enjoy it, would render
him very great, if unhappily his faculties be not at that
point when a continuation of former habits becomes neces
sary to keep them alive. Go to my lodgings and dress,
read my letters, and then (but with no proper emotions for
that scene) go to Mrs. Church's ball. Things here are
really magnificent and well conducted. The royal broth
ers and Mrs. Fitzherbert are among the guests. The Duke
of Orleans also is here, with whom I exchange a few words,
and converse a good deal with his two brothers, just arrived
from Paris. See Mrs. Darner and several other people
whom I had before seen. On the whole, the manner of
these persons is very well, considering the haughty cold
ness of the nation and that I am an American. Stay till
after three, and then take Mr. Low home. When I get
home it is broad daylight."

J79o.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 321

CHAPTER XV.

Reticence of the Duke of Leeds. Morris's letter to the duke. Letter to
Washington. Undertakes to negotiate for the sale of American es
tates. Miss Farren. The impressment of American seamen. In
terview with the Duke of Leeds. Presented to Pitt. Long interview
with Pitt and the Duke of Leeds relative to the treaty of commerce,
non-payment of money due by the English Government to American
land-owners, evacuation of the frontier-posts, etc. The Hastings
trial. News from Paris. The National Assembly vote the king an
allowance. Abolition of the nobility. The Duke of Orleans in a
" whimsical " situation. Great fete of the federation. Letter to Wil
liam Short at Paris. Strictures on the young men of London. Rise
of the Jacobins in Paris. Lafayette's position insecure.

IT was now late in April, and still the Duke of Leeds
maintained a profound silence upon the subject of
the conversation Morris had held with him, nor had
he returned the copy of the President's letter. " I am
still waiting," Morris wrote to Washington on the 28th,
"for intelligence from the ministers, who (to judge by
appearances) slumber profoundly upon the application
made to them. It was not until the 28th of April, and
after several notes had been sent to jog his memory, that
the duke consented to notice Morris or his affairs. He
then pleaded indisposition as the excuse for his long
delay.

Morris in his reply [April 3oth] expressed himself as
happy to receive from such " respectable authority" the
sincere wish of England to fulfil her engagements with
the United States "in a manner consistent with the most
scrupulous fidelity ; " though this had never admitted of

21

322 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XV.

question in his mind, and he assured his grace of his con
viction of the determination of the United States to per
form in the fullest manner every stipulation which they
had made. He entreated of his grace's goodness to inform
him in what respect, and to what degree, lie considered the
final completion of those engagements to which the United
States were bound as having been rendered impracticable,
this being to him a new idea. He further asked his grace
the nature and extent of the redress expected for British
subjects upon the specific points of the treaty. On the
subject of a commercial treaty between the countries,
Morris expressed a sincere hope that he might be mistaken
in supposing that his grace showed a disinclination to se
curing an amiable intercourse by the force of a treaty, and
assured him how unhappy he should be to convey a false
impression on this subject, which might be prejudicial to
both countries. He begged, therefore, that he might be
set right.

The following letter to Washington was sent, with
Morris's full reply to the Duke of Leeds, of which a sum
mary only is given above. "I must rely," he wrote, "on
your kindness both to interpret favorably what I have
done, and to excuse my omissions. I thought it best to
heap coals of fire on their heads, and thereby either bring
them into our views or put them most eminently in the
wrong. It was, moreover, my wish to draw forth specific
propositions, because these will admit of discussion, or else,
if manifestly unjust, they can not only be repelled, but they
will serve to show a predetermined breach of faith by them
which will justify whatever conduct we may afterwards find
it proper to adopt. I have some reason to believe that
the present administration intends to keep the posts and
withhold payment for the negroes. If so, they will cover
their breach of faith by the best pretexts in their power.

i79o.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 323

I incline to think also that they consider a treaty of com
merce with America as being absolutely unnecessary, and
that they are persuaded they shall derive all benefit from
our trade without treaty. In the matter of treaties very
much will, I think, depend upon the situation of France.
From the conduct of the aristocratic hierarchy in the Low
Countries, who are instigated and supported by Prussia,
I have long been thoroughly convinced that the alternative
of war or the most ignominious terms of peace would be
proposed to the Imperial Courts. Counting upon the ab
solute nullity of France, and supposing that this country
can at any moment intimidate that into abject submission,
Prussia and Poland will, I think, join themselves to Tur
key and Sweden against Russia and Austria, which are
both exhausted and one of them dismembered. Probably
the war will be commenced before the letter reaches your
hands, and then Britain and Holland are to be the umpires
or, rather, dictators of peace. Perhaps there never was a
moment in which this country found herself greater, and
consequently it is the most unfavorable moment to obtain
advantageous terms from her in any bargain. It appears
clearly that the favorable moment for us to treat is not yet
come. It is indeed the moment for this country, and they
seem determined to let it pass away."

"This afternoon [May 2d], at the poets' gallery of paint
ings, I have pointed out to me Lord Derby and Miss Far-
ren, who are to be married as soon as Lady Derby will
make her exit. Miss Farren is one of the Drury Lane
company of comedians."

One of the most arduous of Morris's undertakings for
his friends in America was to negotiate in London and
Paris for the sale of their respective estates, in various
parts of the United States. There was, of course, a general
feeling of distrust of a country so far away and so uncul-

324 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XV.

tivated, and a desire to be thoroughly indemnified for
losses. Writing to Robert Morris of the difficulties he en
countered in this effort, he says : " What can I offer those
who may wish to purchase ? Money I have not. Personal
security in this country I have not. In America they will
not take it, and if I propose a mortgage of the premises
they may reply that these they have already. As to the
Fairfax estate, it is somewhat differently circumstanced,
but even respecting it, I expect that if I can see and con
verse with Mr. Martin, he will insist on security here." *
As in Paris, so more or less in London, Morris's ad
vice was constantly asked about purchases in America, but
he found it extremely difficult to bring anyone to the
point of a purchase.

" Sir John Miller is at Mr. Wilmots' to-night [May 5th],
and he tells me that great fortunes have been made by
borrowing money and purchasing estates in Ireland, which
yield an interest of five percent, upon the purchase money
till the old leases fall in, and then yield twice and three
times as much. He has himself speculated in this way to
the amount of ^20,000. In conversation he describes the

* The effort to purchase Fairfax lands was simply a speculation on Mor
ris's part. It was after the death of the sixth Lord Fairfax, the recluse of
Greenway Court in Virginia, when the State of Virginia had passed acts of
confiscation of all his lordship's lands, as well as of his lord proprietorship.
The acts recited that the confiscation was made because the title to them
had descended to an alien enemy, his brother Robert, the seventh lord.
Afterward it was insisted that the title of the Fairfax heirs in the lands which
the sixth Lord Fairfax had appropriated to himself in severalty, either by
deeds made to himself as lord proprietor, or by surveys or other acts, indi
cating his intention to appropriate them to himself individually, should be
allowed by the State, which was done by an act of legislature, procured to
be passed by John Marshall, afterward chief justice, and who had himself be
come a purchaser of a considerable tract of these lands. After that act of
legislature was passed, Dr. Denny Martin Fairfax, of Leeds Castle, nephew
of the sixth lord, sold all of those lands which had not been previously sold.
In 1789 Robert, seventh Lord Fairfax, was still alive. There was no Conclu
sion arrived at in the negotiation in which Morris was interested.

I79Q.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 325

situation of a gentleman in the country here as far from
agreeable, if he resides anywhere in the neighborhood of
a peer or a great commoner, ' because,' says he, ' such per
son must either be the humble servant of the great man or
must be borne down by his opposition, in all parish and
county meetings and in everything which relates to the
roads.' To-night, when I come in, I find on my table an in
vitation from Mrs. Church to breakfast to-morrow at twelve.
I write the following answer :

Dear Madame, believe me, 'tis not without sorrow

I do not partake of your breakfast to-morrow ;

So kind a request it is hard to refuse,

But an envious Demon my pleasures pursues,

Resolved, with the blasts of cold duty, to blight

The blossoms of joy and the buds of delight.

To-morrow, laborious, I write all the day,

To friends who are far o'er the water away,

Who dwell on that soil to your bosom so dear,

Which so oft from your eye draws the filial tear ;

That dear natal soil, Freedom's favorite child,

Where bliss flows spontaneous and virtue grows wild,

Where nature, disdaining the efforts of art,

Gives grace to the form and gives worth to the heart.

In plain prose, the packet sails to-morrow night and I
must write.' "

" Dine to-day [May 6th] with the French ambassador.
When dinner is half over two of his family come in from
the House of Commons, where the debate was animated,
although they were all of one mind. The address has been
carried unanimously, and a determination is avowed to ob
tain from the Spanish Court an acknowledgment that
they are entitled to no part of America but such as they
occupy. After dinner, attend Mrs. Penn to the play.
Henry the Fifth is acted very badly, and with great ap
plause. The monarch makes great exertion ' to split the

326 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XV.

ears of the groundlings.' A translation of the ' Marriage
of Figaro ' is very well done by the intended wife of Lord
Derby, Miss Farren. , She is said to be perfectly chaste,
and his lordship, I suppose, is satisfied on that subject, but
the caresses of the stage are not exactly what one would
wish to be exhibited on one's intended bride."

" This morning [May i3th] M. Bourgainville, one of La
fayette's aides-de-camp, comes in. I read to him my let
ter to his General and to Carmichael, and explain as fully
as conversation could permit my plan for carrying on a war
against this country. He is to write to M. de Lafayette
to-morrow for permission to pass over for a few days to
Paris. I give him also some ideas upon the constitution
which they are now forming, and read an essay written on
it last summer which contains many predictions since veri
fied. He tells me that he is an advocate for a single cham
ber, but that my objections against that form are strong."

Morris had been several times applied to, to take some
steps in regard to the American seamen impressed into
the British service, and he prepared a short memorial on
the subject, which was sent to the Lords of the Admi
ralty. Being strongly convinced of the necessity of more
action in the matter, in consequence of the cases brought
to his notice, he determined, if possible, to see the Duke of
Leeds on the subject.

He therefore requested an interview, which was granted
for the 2oth of May, and which the diary describes as fol
lows : " I stay but a short time with his grace the Duke
of Leeds. He apologizes for not having answered my let
ters. I tell him that I suppose he has been so much en
gaged in other affairs that he has not had time. He says
I misunderstood one part of his letter to me, for that he
certainly meant to express a willingness to enter into a
treaty of commerce. To this I reply that my present ob-

1790] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 327

ject is to mention another affair, and as to my letter, he
will, I suppose, answer it at his leisure. I then mention
the impress of American seamen, and observe that their
press-gangs have entered American vessels with as little
ceremony as those belonging to Britain. ' I believe, my
Lord, this is the only instance in which we are not treated
as aliens.' He acknowledges this to be wrong, and prom
ises to speak to Lord Chatham on the subject. I tell him
that I have already prevented some applications from be
ing made on this business in a disagreeable manner, but
that in a general impress over all the British dominions, if
the greatest care be not used, such things will happen
that masters of vessels, on returning home, will excite
much heat in America, 'and that, my Lord, added to other
circumstances, will perhaps occasion very disagreeable
events. And you know, my Lord, that when a wound is
recently healed it is very easy to rub off the skin.' He
repeats his assurances. I tell him that I feel the incon
veniences to which they may be subjected from the diffi
culty of distinguishing between seamen of the two coun
tries, and add my wish that some plan may tie adopted,
founded on good faith, which may prevent the con
cealment of British seamen while it secures those of
America from insult, and suggest the idea of certificates
of citizenship from the admiralty courts of America to
our seamen. He seems much pleased with this, but I de
sire him to consult those of the King's servants whose par
ticular department it is, reminding him at the same time
that I speak without authority from America, on which
score I made an apology in the outset. I then take my
leave, but he requests me to call again about one o'clock
to-morrow.

" At one o'clock on Friday I again wait upon the Duke.
After waiting some time in the antechamber, I am intro-

328 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XV.

duced to where Mr. Pitt and he are sitting together. He
presents me to the latter, and we enter into conversation.
The first point is that of the impress, and upon that sub
ject Mr. Pitt approves the idea of a certificate from the
Admiralty of America. I mention that it might be proper
for the King's servants to order that certificates of a cer
tain kind should be evidence of an American seaman,
without excluding, however, other evidence, and that in
consequence the executive authority in America could di
rect the officers of the Admiralty Courts to issue such cer
tificates to those applying for them. We then proceed to
the treaty of peace. They both mention that I had mis
apprehended the letter of the Duke of Leeds respecting a
treaty of commerce. I observe that it may easily be set
right as to that mistake, but that it is idle to think of mak
ing a new treaty until the parties are satisfied about that
already existing. Mr. Pitt then took up the conversation,
and said that the delay of compliance on our part had ren
dered that compliance now less effectual, and that cases
must certainly exist where injury had been sustained by
the delay. I observe generally that delay is always a kind
of breach, being, as long as it lasts, the non-performance
of stipulations. But, descending a little more into particu
lars, I endeavor to show that the injury is complained of
by the Americans for the non-payment of money due
by this government to the owners of slaves taken away.
On the whole, I observe that inquiries of this sort may be
very useful if the parties mutually seek to keep asunder,
but that, if they mean to come together, it would be best to
keep them entirely out of sight, and now to perform on
both sides as well as the actual situation of things will
permit. After many professions to cultivate a good un
derstanding, Mr. Pitt mentions that it might be well to
consider in general the subject, and on general grounds to

1790.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 329

see whether some compensation could not be made mutu
ally. I immediately replied : l If I understand you, Mr. Pitt,
you wish to make a new treaty instead of complying with
the old one.' He admitted this to be in some sort his idea.
I said that even on that ground I did not see what better
could be done than to perform the old one. 'As to the
compensation for negroes taken away, it is too trifling an
object for you to dispute, so that nothing remains but the
posts.* I suppose, therefore, that you wish to retain the
posts.' 'Why, perhaps we may.' 'They are not worth the
keeping, for it must cost you a great deal of money, and
produce no benefit. The only reason you can desire them
is to secure the fur-trade, and that will centre in this coun
try, let who will carry it on in America.' I gave him the
reasons for this opinion. ' If you consider these posts as
a trivial object, there is the less reason for acquiring them.'
'Pardon me, sir, I only state the retaining them as useless
to you ; but this matter is to be considered in a different
point of light. Those who made the peace acted wisely
in separating the possessions of the two countries by so
wide a water. It is essential to preserve the boundary if
you wish to live in amity with us. Near neighbors are
seldom good ones, for the quarrels among borderers fre
quently bring on wars. It is therefore essential for both
parties that you should give them up, and to us it is of
particular importance, because our national honor is inter-

* The continued occupation of the posts along the frontier by the British
troops had occasioned much dissatisfaction in America, and, as early as 1785,
Adams, when sent on his mission to Great Britain, had told Lord Carmarthen
that perhaps the most pressing of all the six points for discussion was the re
tention of the posts, which had deprived the " merchants of a most profitable
trade in furs, which they justly considered as their right." In 1785 this
subject was also mentioned to Pitt by Mr. Adams, but was always met with
the same answer, that it was a matter connected with the debts. It was not
until 1796, under Mr. Jay's treaty, that the much-disputed frontier-posts were
surrendered by Great Britain to the United States.

330 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XV.

ested. You hold them with the avowed intention of forc
ing us to comply with such conditions as you may impose.'
'Why, sir, as to the considerations of national honor, we
can retort the observation and say our honor is concerned
in your delay of performance of the treaty.' ' No, sir, your
natural and proper course was to comply fully on your
part, and if then we had refused a compliance, you might
rightfully have issued letters of marque and reprisal to
such of your subjects as were injured by our refusal. But
the conduct you have pursued naturally excites resent
ment in every American bosom. We do not think it worth
while to go to war with you for these posts, but we know
our rights, and will avail ourselves of them when time and cir
cumstances may suit.'

" Mr. Pitt asked me if I had power to treat. I told him
I had not, and that we would not appoint any person as
minister, they had so much neglected the former appoint
ment. He asked me whether we would appoint a minis
ter if they did. I told him that I could almost promise
that we should, but was not authorized to give any posi
tive assurance. We then converse loosely upon the man
ner of communicating on that subject. In the course of
it I tell him that we cannot take notice of their consuls,
or anything which they may say, because they are not
characters known or acknowledged by us. His pride was
a little touched at this."

" ' I suppose, Mr. Morris, that attention might as well be
paid to what they say as that the Duke of Leeds and I
should hold the present conversation with you.'

" ' By no means, sir. I should never have thought of
asking a conference with his grace if I had not possessed
a letter from the President of the United States, which
you know, my Lord, I left with you, and which, I dare
say, you have communicated to Mr. Pitt.'

I790-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 331

" He had. Mr. Pitt said they would in like manner
write a letter to one of their consuls.

" ' Yes, sir, and the letter would be attended to and not
the consul, who is in no respect different from any other
British subject, and this is the subject which I wished you
to attend to.'

"He said, in reply to this, that etiquette ought not to be
pushed so far as to injure business, and keep the countries
asunder. I assured him that the rulers of America had
too much understanding to care for etiquette, but prayed
him at the same time to recollect that they (the British)
had hitherto kept us at a distance instead of making ad
vances ; that we had gone quite as far as they had any
reason to expect in writing the letter just mentioned, but
that from what had passed in consequence of it, and which
(as he might naturally suppose) I had transmitted, we
could not but consider them as wishing to avoid an inter
course. He took up this point, and expressed a hope that I
would remove such an idea. He assures me that they are
disposed to cultivate a connection, etc. To this I reply
that any written communication that may be made by his
grace of Leeds shall be duly transmitted ; that I do not
like to transmit mere conversation, because it may be mis
conceived, and that disagreeable questions may arise ; that
as to the disposition for having a good understanding be
tween the two countries, it is evidenced on our part not
only by the step which the President has taken, but also
by the decision of the legislature, in which a considerable
majority were opposed to the laying extraordinary re
strictions upon British vessels in our ports. Mr. Pitt ob
serves that, on the contrary, we ought to give them particu
lar privileges in consequence of those which we enjoy
here. I tell him that I really know of no particular privi
lege we enjoy, except that of being impressed, which of

332 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XV.

all others we are least desirous to partake of. The Duke
of Leeds observed, in the same style of jocularity, that we
were at least treated in that respect as the most favored
nation, seeing that we were treated like themselves. They
promised to consult together, and give me the result of
their deliberations."

"At eleven o'clock to-night [May 22d] I take Mrs. Phyn
to Ranelagh. We do not arrive till after twelve. The room
is filled, and it is an immense one. The amusement here
is to walk round until one is tired, and then sit down to tea
and rolls. The report of the day has been that the Na
tional Assembly have denied to the King the power of
making war and peace. I met an abbe at the French
ambassador's at dinner to-day, who is a very great astrono
mer, and who makes several observations on the philo
sophic credulity of Franklin and Jefferson. Both of them,
he thinks, have entertained a higher sense of the force of
steam-engines applied to navigation than they merit, and
I think so too. I have told Parker long ago that I believe
Rumsey's contrivances will answer only to work up stream
in rivers where fuel is cheap. The ambassador seems to
me to be in a violent agitation of mind, and I remark it
after dinner to his niece, who tells me that he has been so
for some days, but she cannot conjecture the reason. In
conversing about the news of yesterday, Church, who is
here, says that it is reported from M. de Calonne, said to
have learned it by express, that the National Assembly
have vested in the Crown the right of peace and war. I
express my surprise that in the present conjuncture the
Comte de Florida Blanca should be removed, and from the
state of affairs draw into question the truth of that report.
La Luzerne upon this subject declares that in Spain they
have no idea of any such situation as seems to be imag
ined here ; that there is nothing extraordinary in their

1790.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 333

armaments, etc. This is going too far for his own object,
because a certain extent of armament in that country is in
disputable, and also that it exceeds the usual measure of
peace establishment very considerably."

" Dine [May 27th] with the Marquis of Lansdowne. It is
six when I arrive. He receives me politely, and apologizes
for not having invited me sooner. At dinner he sports sen
timents respecting the constitution of France to the French
who are here, which I believe to be foreign to his heart.
Dr. Price * is one of the guests, who is one of the Liberty-
mad people. After dinner, being together in the drawing-
room a few minutes, the noble marquis advances senti
ments to me far less friendly to France, but full of love
and kindness for America. I am, however, at liberty to be
lieve just as much as I please. The resolutions of the As
sembly are arrived, which say just nothing, as far as I can
find. They reserve the right of declaring war to the Na
tional Assembly, but permit the King to arm, etc. This, at
least, is the account given to me by Lord Lansdowne.

" Dine [May 28th] at the French ambassador's. He says
that the decree respecting war and peace was passed in
consequence of the tumultuous meeting of the populace
in the neighborhood of the place where the Assembly sit.
Bouinville says that Lafayette wants him to concert with
me, and then return for a few days to Paris. He thinks
that the decree will by no means prevent the administra
tion from engaging in a war, and I think so too."

" The news from Paris [May 3oth] is that everything is

* Richard Price, a dissenting minister and speculative philosopher, born in
1723, was the intimate friend of Dr. Franklin and Dr. Priestley. He strongly
advocated the cause of American liberty, and in 1778 he was invited by Con
gress to become a citizen of the United States. This offer he declined. He
was an ardent supporter of the French Revolution and drew down upon
himself thus the denunciations of Burke in the famous "Reflections." He
died at London in 1791.

334 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XV.

again in confusion. The populace have dispersed the
Court of the Chatelet, and hanged several persons confined
for crimes. The reason of this riot was to prevent an in
vestigation of the ex-cesses before committed at Versailles.
Farther, the object of the demagogues, according to rumor,
is to remove Lafayette and place La Meth * in his stead.
This would be a curious appointment. But France seems
now to be governed by Barnave,f Chapelier,J the Baron de
Menou,§ and Due d'Aquillon,|| with others of the same
stamp. Unhappy kingdom ! "

The trial of Warren Hastings was going on most of the
time that Morris had been in London, and although tickets
of admission had been offered to him at various times, only
once had he gone to Westminster Hall ; on June yth, how
ever, when the trial was nearly over, he again went. " We
get," the diary says, " to Westminster Hall at eleven, and
find great difficulty in procuring a seat. About two the
court opens, and from twelve we have been pressed hard
by those who could not get seats, and are much incom
moded by the foul air till near six, when the company is a
little thinned. Mr. Fox sums up the evidence with great
ability. But he does not get through it at eight o'clock,
\vhen the Lords adjourn. It is said that this man is to be

* Count Alexandra La Meth, a deputy of the noblesse in 1789, who united
with the Third Estate to form the national party.

t Antoine Charles Pierre Barnave, a revolutionist and an orator, and a
member of the States-General in 1789.

J Isaac Rene Gui Chapelier, an eminent lawyer, among the ablest members
of the States-General. He drafted the degree abolishing the nobility, and
favored the Feuillants, or the side of the constitution. In 1794 he was execut
ed on the charge cf having conspired in favor of royalty.

§ Jacques Francois Baron de Menou served in the republican army in 1793,
in the Vendean campaign, and commanded the national guard which sup
pressed the insurrection in the Faubourg St. Antoine.

|| Armand de Vignero Duplisses Richelieu, Due d'Aquillon, warmly sup
ported the popular cause in the States-General in 1789, was the second of
the noblesse to renounce his privileges in the session of August 4th, took
command of the armies, was proscribed in 1792, but escaped by flight.

1790.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 335

acquitted, and from the various decisions as to evidence we
would be inclined to think so, but in my opinion this
charge of bribery is fully supported. It will, however,
depend, I suppose, on the situation of the ministry at the
time of the decision, whether he is acquitted or con
demned."

By the middle of June the bourgeoisie revolutionnaire in
the National Assembly, hoping to insure to themselves a
passive king, with all the splendor of a court around him
which he should owe to them, voted Louis XVI. an
allowance of 26,000, ooof. "Out of this sum, however,"
Morris says, in commenting on the act, "he is to provide
for his household troops, and for the different branches of
the royal family. He has asked, though not pointedly,
4,ooo,ooof. for the Queen's dower, and they have granted
it, but not specifically. The forms will, I suppose, be gone
through speedily. There is also a plan of confederation
to take place between the military and militia, by way of
counter-security to the Revolution."

Ten days after the Assembly had enthusiastically voted
the allowance for the king ; just as enthusiastically, and
"with an inconsequence truly prodigious," they voted the
abolition of the nobility.

" To-day [June 24th] at dinner at the French ambas
sador's," continues the diary, " there are a number of the
Corps Diplomatique, and, what suits me better, a fine turtle.
Advices from France announce the total abolition of the
French nobility, down to the very arms and livery ; this
upon motion of some of the Whig nobles. There is also
a strange address to the Assembly from a junto of all na
tions. It seems as if the Revolutionists were studying
how best to excite a strong opposition to their measures.
Heaven knows how this will all end, but I fear badly, un
less they are saved by a foreign war. Go from hence to

336 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XV.

General Morris's, and sit some time with them. He says
there will be no war, and from his manner of speaking I
think he has been told so by some person who is in the
secret."

Morris's keen sense of humor prevailed even at this
juncture, which was full of sadness to many of his Parisian
friends, and he could not resist the inclination to see the
grimly amusing side of the change of names that must
ensue from such a decree. " Make a thousand compli
ments for me," he wrote to Mr. Short, " to her Royal High
ness and to Madame de Chastellux. I suppose that when
I return to Paris (which will be soon) I shall have to learn
new names for one-half of my acquaintance. Pray, are the
friends of the Revolution afraid that its enemies will not
be sufficiently exasperated?"

" The Marquis de la Luzerne tells me to-day [July 2d],
at dinner, that the Duke of Orleans has taken leave of the
King with intention to return. I tell him that I doubt yet
his returning, because I think that the slightest circum
stance would prevent it, and mention, as an instance, that
the receipt even of an anonymous letter announcing dan
ger would terrify him. He says there are many ways, but
that they will neither use them nor permit others to do it.
He seems rather vexed at this. The decree respecting the
nobility, he observes, is not yet sanctioned. I notice the
situation of the Duke of Orleans as being whimsical. He
cannot go into any country well, nor remain here, when
the war breaks out. He asks me why I suppose always
that there will be a war ? I tell him that I have long been
convinced of it, for many reasons. 'Vous dites toujours
les choses extraordinaires qui se realisent.' Happening to
mention Short, he speaks of him as being fout and ren
dered so by Jefferson. I tell him that he will probably be
appointed minister in France. He seems not well pleased,

179°.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 337

but says he is probably a very suitable person. He is
vexed at Lafayette's conduct respecting the noblesse, and
says that, although he has a good deal of management
(conduite) in his affairs, he has done much evil from the
want of genius (esprit\ in which idea he is not entirely
wrong."

On July i4th the great fete of the federation was held,
when the world of Paris celebrated the anniversary of the
fall of the Bastille, and swore to obey the new constitution.
There were three hundred thousand spectators assembled
in the great amphitheatre in the Champ de Mars. Here
could be seen the courtesan and the chaste maiden, the
capuchin and the chevalier of St. Louis, the porter and the
dandy of the Palais Royal, the fishwoman and the fine lady,
mingled together, and together they swore fraternity. How
they kept the oath history tells. At the elevation of the
Host by the celebrant, the Bishop of Autun, all that vast
multitude fell on their knees. Lafayette placed his sword
on the altar, and gave the signal for taking the oath. One
moment of intense silence, while he swore to be faithful to
nation and king ; then alt swords drawn, all arms raised,
and from all lips came the oath, " I swear." Then from
the king came the words, " I, King of the French, swear
to protect the constitution I have accepted." Frantic en
thusiasm greeted the queen, who, with the Dauphin in her
arms, said, "The king's sentiments are mine." Then the
Te Deum gave the amen to the oath. All the while the
rain kept falling in torrents on the pageant. In the even
ing another great fete was held, and on the ruins of the
Bastille one saw the sign, " Ici Ton danse." All night long
Paris was en fete.

"Your fete is passed," Morris wrote, July 26th, of this
event to William Short; "I trust that no sinister acci
dents have resulted from it. When we reflect on the inci-
22

338 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XV.

dents which have passed within less than two years, we
must be forcibly struck with the mutability of human
affairs. ... I sincerely, nay, devoutly, wish that the
constitution may be productive of great and lasting good
to France. It is, you know, very far from my ideas of
what is right, and it will give me great pleasure should
it disappoint my expectations. I had been, as you sup
pose, apprised of the schism in the democratic party,
at which I was not at all surprised. United by com
mon danger, very discordant materials were held together,
which from different motives had been thrown together.
The danger past, in appearance at least, the different
pretensions were brought forward, and (unfortunately, I
think) there is no man or set of men who have dared to
stop at that point of moderation \vhere alone good prin
ciples can be found, and by which alone good govern
ment can exist. Those who court the people have a
very capricious mistress ; a mistress which may be gained
by sacrifices, but she cannot be so held, for she is insati
able. The people will never continue attached to any
man who will sacrifice his duty to their caprice. In
modern days we have, I believe, more virtue than the an
cients ; certainly we are more decent. But the principles
of human nature are the same, and so shall we find the
pursuits of man to be, if we can but penetrate that veil of
decency by which young ambition is decorated. If we
cannot, he will spare us the trouble whenever those bar
riers are removed which were erected against him by that
great ally of virtue, the law. In proportion as the Revolu
tion shall appear to be completed, and the new order of
things appear to be established, schisms will multiply
anaong the Revolutionists, for each will desire (disinterest
edly, no doubt) a share of the good things which are
going, and which, from the droits de I'homme, you know all

1790.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 339

are entitled to enjoy. I remember, in one of the early ad
dresses of Congress, something was said about the luxury
of being free. Now the French genius may refine as much
upon this luxury as they used to do upon the other ; but,
bating their talents at refinement, I hardly conjecture
what ground those men will take hereafter who would
signalize their democratic principles. They will, I fear,
be but humble imitators of Sir John Brute, who, in the
heat of his zeal and wine, drank confusion to all order.
. The observation you made upon the dissolute con
duct of the Fedcres, I had long since made upon the whole
nation. It requires the strong stomach of monarchy to
digest such rank manners. As to the instinctive love of
their princes which you speak of, it is indeed instinctive,
and the animal will never get rid of its instinct. The
French will all tell you that their countrymen have des tetes
exalte'es, and their manners, habits, and ideas are all up to
that standard. A Frenchman loves his king as he loves
his mistress, to madness, because he thinks it great and
noble to be mad. He then abandons both the one and the
other most ignobly, because he cannot bear the continued
action of the sentiment he has persuaded himself to feel."
" Paine tells me that the Comte de Montmorin has
applied to the Assemblee," says the diary for August
8th, "to know whether they will adhere to the family
compact. The Spanish ambassador has made a formal
demand, accompanied with a threat from his Court. I
think I see this in its true light, but do not mention
to him my idea. After he has left me some time, Bouin-
ville calls, and from conversation with him I find that
I am right. He tells me that the whole of the French
administration will go out, but that Montmorin will pre
serve his place in the council as governor of the chil
dren of France ; that secretaries will be appointed for

340 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XV.

the present — young men who can be at any time removed.
Ternant has been negotiating (but without effect), to quiet
the claims of the German princes, whose feudal claims in
France have been annihilated. Barnave is about to desert
La Meth, who has lately made overtures to M. de Lafa
yette, but he replied by a declaration that in the present
situation there was no alternative but victory or death.
General and Mrs. Morris call upon me. They take tea,
and sit till near ten. She tells me that the Duchess of
Gordon is, on her report, very desirous of becoming ac
quainted. She is, it seems, a woman of great wit and full
of life. They have dined with her, and she told my sister
she would give me a dinner with Mr. Pitt. I express much
satisfaction at the idea of being presented to the Premier.
In the course of conversation my sister tells me that the
fashionable style for young men in London is to affect
great ennui, and receive advances from the ladies which
they hardly deign to notice."

"To-day [August i5th] Mr. Bouinville dines with me,
and communicates all that he knows respecting the situa
tion of affairs in France. He tells me that Lafayette has
been very much hurt to find himself so much deceived by
those whom he thought attached to him. Mankind always
make false estimates on this subject. He tells me much
of what passed between him and the Duke of Orleans.
He seems not to know, or to be unwilling to mention, the
names of those who are intended for the new ministry.
He says that things are going very badly in Paris, and, in
deed, in all France. The Comite des Jacobins gathers
strength daily. Of course, Lafayette becomes insecure.
The army is in a state of total disorder, and the navy little
better ; the finance every hour more deranged than the
last. He seems, however, confident that the Assemblee
will adhere to the family compact, and that there will be a

I790-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 341

war with this country, which I incline to doubt, because
there seems not to be sufficient energy in the French coun
sels. Paine, who was with me, had shown a paper which
he had written, and which Lafayette had caused to be
translated and published, recommending an attack in the
Channel by the combined fleets."

342 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVI.

CHAPTER XVI.

Various undertakings in Europe. Dulness of card-playing in England.
Washington approves of Morris's communications with the ministers.
Letter to Washington on French affairs. Interview with the Duke of
Leeds. Continental tour before returning to Paris. Civilities from
persons to whom he had letters. Difficulties of travel in 1790. Un
comfortable inns and bad roads. Interview with Baron de Dolberg.
Paris again. Flatteringly received by the Comte de Montmorin.
Morris presents a dog to the Duchess of Orleans. The Due de
Castries's hotel pillaged. M. de Flahaut wishes to go to America as
minister. The play of "Brutus." Much excitement in the theatre.
Dines with the Garde des Sceaux. Apprehends a plot of the Em
peror for liberating the Queen and restoring the former government.
Criticises the new constitution. Gives his opinion of the condition
of affairs to Lafayette. The last months of 1790.

DURING the year and a half that Morris had been
in Europe he had unremittingly* labored in behalf
of his friend Robert Morris, but the delays and difficul
ties that beset him were unending. A querulous and
quite uncalled for letter from Robert Morris drew from
him a list of his various undertakings. In all, they num
bered twelve separate and distinct enterprises. "Indian
voyages, the liquidated debt, debts to Spain and France
of the United States, the Fairfax estates, the sale of
land in America," so he enumerated them ; " and last,
but much the most difficult task of all, your various debts
and engagements. Here I have had to perform the task of
the Israelites in Egypt — to make bricks without straw."
Besides all his other responsibilities, he had his farm at
Morrisania to think of, for it was at this time more of an
expense and care than anything else.

I79Q-1 GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 343

"This evening [August i4th], about nine, I visit the
Duchess of Gordon. Presently Lady Chatham comes in,
and then the rest of the company. Colonel Lenox and his
lady are here. She is a liner woman than is imagined —
quick feelings, I think, and tenderness, which will by and
by meet some object more likely to command the heart
than the colonel, who seems to be a good-tempered fellow.
He speaks to me of my brother with much regard. Dull
drudging at cards, which I refuse to partake of. Stay to
supper, which, also, I do not partake of, nor, indeed, of the
conversation, which turns chiefly on who is and who is not
a fine woman. A Mr. Elliot who is here is a very genteel,
fashionable kind of man, much beyond the usual English
style. I think he must be a Scotchman, although his dia
lect is pure. Return home at two, well convinced that I
shall never do for the tonish circles here, for I will not
play, and, indeed, cannot spare time in the morning for
such late hours."

Morris constantly spoke of himself as not a cautious
man, but rather as one who must speak out the convictions
that were in him ; but he was at the same time lenient
with those whose opinions differed from his, and his com
mon sense always came out, as such a letter as the follow
ing to Mr. Short testifies: "It is perfectly natural," he
wrote, "that your opinions should differ from mine. It
will be very long before political subjects will be reduced
to geometric certitude. At present the reasoning on them
is a kind of arithmetic of infinity, when the best informa
tion, the coolest head, and clearest mind can only approach
the truth. A cautious man should therefore give only
sibylline predictions, if, indeed, he should hazard any.
But I am not a cautious man. I therefore give it as my
opinion that they will issue the paper currency, and sub
stitute thereby depreciation in the place of bankruptcy, or,

344 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVI.

rather, suspension. Apropos of this currency, this papier
terrJ, now mort et enterrd, the Assembly have committed
many blunders which are not to be wondered at. They
have taken genius instead of reason for their guide, adopt
ed experiment instead of experience, and wander in the
dark because they prefer lightning to light. You are very
merry on the subject of personal liberty, but the district has
more to say than many are aware of. Is it not written in the
'Droits de 1'homme' that liberty is an inalienable property
of man inseparable from the human character? and if this
be so, what better way of securing personal liberty than to
secure the person ? You wits may sneer, but you must learn
to respect the decrees of the municipalities, which, like
those of Heaven, are inscrutable, but not on that account
the less entitled to obedience and respect. The lady, I
am told, is so far from complaining of the restraint she
was laid under that, although an aristocrat, she tells the
Assembly, with all becoming humility, that she finds their
yoke is easy and their burden light, while the young gen
tleman ordered on duty in her chamber acknowledges that
service to be perfect freedom. Short-sighted man that
you are ! By way of addition and amendment, I would
humbly propose that the male aristocrats should be put
into the custody of the female Whigs, and I dare say they
would come out much less fierce than they were,

" The situation of France is by no means desperate. A
torrent of depreciation may inundate the land, and storms
and tempests arise, but the one, you know, fertilizes the
soil and the other purifies the atmosphere. Ultimately
health and abundance succeed the wintry appearance
which seemed fatal to both. Adieu. I shall leave this in
a day or two."

In a letter to Washington, dated August 3oth, he ex
pressed a hope that in a day or two he might " learn some-

179°.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 345

thing of their intentions here respecting us. And if I do
not hear from them, shall make a final address to His Grace
of Leeds. It is very flattering to me, sir, that you are so
kind as to approve of my communications with the minis
ters of this country, so far as they had gone in the begin
ning of May. I earnestly hope that my subsequent conduct
may meet the same favorable interpretation. This you may
rely on, that if in any case I go wrong, it will be from an
error of judgment. Affairs in France go badly. The na
tional bank which was in contemplation has never taken ef
fect. After deliberating about it and about it, the thing
dropped, and they did expect to have made out with their
paper currency (the assignats), but my predictions on that
subject seem to be verified. Their Assemblee is losing
ground daily in the public opinion. The army, long en
couraged in licentious conduct, is now in revolt. All the
bands of society are loosened and authority is gone. Un
less they are soon involved in foreign war, it seems impos
sible to conjecture what events will take place. For some
time past the ministers have been threatened with the lan-
term, and they would gladly get out of office. We are in
hourly expectation of hearing the decision of the Assem
blee on the family compact. The Spanish ambassador
has required, in pointed terms, a compliance on the part of
France. In the meantime both the Spanish and English
fleets were out, and approaching toward each other.
Probably each side means only to terrify at present."

Morris became decidedly impatient of the long de
lay on the part of the Duke of Leeds in replying to his
questions of April 3oth, and on September zoth he again
wrote to him, and told him that, in expectation of his reply,
" I have patiently waited in this city to the present hour,
though called by many affairs to the Continent. But my
departure cannot be much longer delayed, and therefore it

346 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVI.

becomes necessary to intrude once more on your grace's
attention." An interview accordingly was fixed for the
i5th, and the diary thus reports it : "I see at once by his
countenance, when I arrive at his office, that he feels him
self obliged to cut an awkward part. Let him begin, there
fore, which he does by mentioning that he understands I
am going to America. Set him right, by observing that the
expression in my letter of going to the Continent, meant
the continent of Europe. He says that he is still earnestly
desirous of a real, bonafide connection, not merely by the
words of a treaty but in reality. I reply with like general
professions. He says that as to the two points of the
treaty, there are still difficulties. He wishes they could
be got out of the way, and then hesitates and drops the
conversation. Finding from this that he is to hold a con
ference with me which is to amount to just nothing at all,
I determine to learn as much as I can from his looks. I
therefore begin by observing that I am extremely sorry
for it, but that the affair of the posts seems to present an
insurmountable barrier to any treaty, because it will serve
as a pretext to ill-disposed persons. This, I see, has some
effect. I add, therefore, that it gives serious alarm to per
sons otherwise well disposed, who say that the garrisoning
of those posts, being evidently a great and useless expense
to this country, can only be done with hostile views ; that
every murder committed by the Indians is therefore set
down to the account of British intrigues ; that I do not
presume to judge in respect to the great circle of Europe
an politics, but, according to my limited comprehension
of the matter, I am led to imagine that they could not
act with the same decisive energy towards their natural
enemies while they doubted of our conduct. He admitted
this. I proceed then a little further, premising that this
conversation must be considered as merely from one gen-

I790-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 347

tleman to another. In case of a war with the House of
Bourbon, which, if it does not happen this year or the
next, will probably happen within twenty years — which is
but a moment in the age of empires— we can give the
West Indian Islands to whom we please without engaging
in the war at all, and that we shall certainly in such case
consider whether it is our interest that they should be
subject to England or France, and act accordingly. He
feels this observation, and unwarily lets me see that this
point has presented itself forcibly to their consideration.
Having gone as far in this line as appears proper, I take
a short turn in my subject and tell him that I had waited
with great patience during the negotiations which were
carrying on here, because I supposed that they would nat
urally square their conduct towards us by their position in
respect to other nations. He did not like this remark at
all, having too much of truth in it ! I added that as the
Northern Courts are now at peace, and I suppose they have
come to their final decisions with respect to the House of
Bourbon, I thought it probable that they were prepared
to speak definitely to us. I wait here for his answer, buf
he has none to give, being tolerably well embarrassed, and
that embarrassment is as good an answer as I wish. He
changes the conversation a little, and asks me what the
United States will think of the undefined claim of Spain
to America ; I am very willing to be pumped, and there
fore I tell him carelessly that I don't think it will make
any impression upon our minds, for that the Spaniards
are in fact so apprehensive of us that they are disposed to
sacrifice a great deal for our friendship ; that the only
reason they had for withholding the navigation of the
Mississippi River was from the apprehension of a contra
band trade, which was the reason why, in my opinion, they
must stake the last man and the last shilling upon the

348 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVI.

present affair of Nootka Sound, rather than admit the
right of selling there by British subjects. He owns that
the danger of contraband ought to be considered in deal
ing on this subject, for that nations, like individuals,
ought to treat with candor and honesty. I tell him that if
they come to any determination speedily, I could wish to
be apprised of it. He says that I shall, and offers to com
municate with General Washington through me, and for
that purpose to address his letters to me in France ; but I
tell him that his own packets will give a more direct op
portunity, and take my leave. On the whole, I find that
my conjectures are just. I think they will rather concede
a little than go to war with Spain, if France is in force to
join her ally, but they want to be in a position to deal ad
vantageously with us in case they should find it necessary.
I believe the debates in council on this subject have been
pretty high, and that the American party has been out
voted, or else that in feeling the ground they have found
themselves too weak to bring forward the question."

Morris left London on the 24th of September, but before
returning to Paris he took a short run on the Continent by
way of refreshment and recreation. Letters of introduc
tion opened pleasant houses to him in many of the towns,
and his taste for art led him to halt and at least glance
at the best sights that Ghent and other cities on the way
had to show. The smallest incidents of this, as, indeed,
of all his journeys, are carefully jotted down in the diary.
At Ghent he was not a little interested in the superstitions
of his guide, "who," he says, "had served a long time
in the French Army, which is not the school of most rigid
superstition, and who pointed out to me in my walk—
which he took care should be through the streets where
the patriots and soldiery fought — the marks of many
musket-balls in the wall of a house against which was an

I790-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 349

image either of the Virgin or her Son — I forget which —
and, miraculously, not a bullet had touched that sacred spot.
Chance might have done this, was the first idea which en
tered the unbelieving noddle of a Protestant, but, after pass
ing, I looked back, and found that the miracle would have
been to have hit it, for it stood on a corner-house exactly
out of the line of fire. I might therefore very easily have
explained this miracle ; but if I should convince him of the
folly of the faith he has held for above sixty years, 'tis ten
to one if he could now find a better, and therefore it is
best to leave him in possession of his present property."

"At Bonn [October ipth] I wait on the French minister
with a letter from the Comte de Montmorin. He is at the
door when I inquire for him, and takes the letter to de
liver it. This is a little whimsical, but I am rather en des
habille', so that he does not, I believe, know what to make
of me. However, after reading the letter he is very atten
tive, which explains itself naturally enough by his urging
me to stay to-morrow, that he may comply with the orders
of the Comte de Montmorin, qui sont tres particuliers.
Madame de Chastellux has also mentioned me."

" Go to dine with the minister the day after my arrival.
In the evening there is an assembly, which I find is col
lected on purpose. The Archduke, late Governor of the
Low Countries, is here, to whom I am presented, and con
verse with him a little about the affairs of Brabant. I have
some conversation also with the Minister of the Finances,
who is quick and sensible. After the company are gone the
Count takes me into his cabinet to communicate a me'moire
he has written on the claims of the German princes to
feudal rights in Alsace. On the whole, I am persuaded
that M. de Montmorin's letter has contained everything
which I could have wished."

Travelling all day over decidedly bad roads, with slow

35° DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVI.

horses and obstinate postilions, required patience — par
ticularly when a very bad dinner, cooked for the passen
gers who arrived an hour before, and re'chauff^ was to
complete the day. The compensation, however, was
charming scenery, thoroughly enjoyed because not passed
at the rate of forty miles an hour. Morris stopped a night
at pretty Schwalbach, nestling in its deep ravine, and
already a " watering-place of great resort," he says. Then
on through Wiesbaden and Frankfort to Darmstadt. Not
unlike Arthur Young, Morris always noted the condition
of the soil, and the prosperity of the countries he passed
through, but with occasionally a pardonable comparison
not unfavorable to America.

"I reach Diebourg to-day [October 25th]. The Baron
de Groshlaer and his family receive me kindly. Shortly
after the first compliments and a dish of tea, we retire to
gether. I ask him the character of the Emperor. He
confirms the idea I had taken up of him. fteaven knows
how or why he shares his confidence between Manfredi,

the governor of his children, and , who was a long

time minister to the Court of France. The first is an
artful, sensible, sly fellow, and his turn of mind is suited
to the temper and character of Leopold. The other is
really a man of sense and a man of business. There is a
third, whose name I do not distinctly hear, who is of great
genius, but indolent and epicurean. Shortly before he left
Frankfort, Leopold seemed to give much of his confidence
to Colloredo, but this (as the others were gone away)
might have arisen as much from the need of counsel as
from any preference as to the counsellors. The Baron is
of opinion that both England and Prussia will try hard to
gain the Emperor, and will offer him French Flanders,
Artois, and a part of Picardy, to desert the Northern
League. He says that Leopold is sore on account of the

I790-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 351

insults offered his sister, the Queen of France, but he does
not think the German princes who have claims on Alsace
and Lorraine will be able to obtain much aid, if any. In
deed, I think so too, for the contest will cost vastly more
than the object is worth. He imagines that the Duchy of
Juliers will be the desired object of his Prussian Majesty,
and this may be the case, because he is not an able man."

" At Mannheim [October 28th] I visit the Baron de Dol-
berg. He says that the Vicomte de Mirabeau had a long
interview with Leopold at Frankfort, and pressed him to
undertake a counter-revolution in France, but he smiled,
and told him that it was an impracticable project. He
thinks the administration in France was so bad as to occa
sion and justify a revolution, but quaere ; the Baron tells
me that the enmity of Austria to Prussia is at the greatest
imaginable height ; the Emperor has in his possession
the original correspondence for exciting a general revolt
in his dominions the instant a war should break out with
Prussia. I ask if this will not lead the Emperor to avenge
the meditated injury. He says that it will probably fester
inwardly till a fit occasion offers. He tells me that the
Austrian General says there are forty thousand troops
ordered to the Low Countries. He showed him the list.
This, with the army already there, will amount to fifty
thousand men — too much if other powers stand neuter,
and too little if they do not."

" At Strasbourg [October 3oth] I learn that the Comte
de la Luzerne has resigned and that most of the other min
isters will go soon ; that the affairs of France are what I
supposed they about this time would be."

"Arrived in Paris on November 6th. I take up my
quarters at the Hotel du Roi. After I am dressed, take a
fiacre and visit at Madame de Flahaut's. She is abroad,
but Monsieur presses me much to pass the evening. I go

352 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVI.

to club, where I find the aristocratic sentiment prevails not
a little. Again go to the Louvre. Madame is at the
Comedie. She returns, and seems glad to see me. I find
that Lord Wycombe is un ennichd id. Dine at Madame de
Segur's. They put me a little au fait of what is going
on. The Comte de Montmorin gives me a very flattering
reception. See M. de Lafayette, who affects to be very well
pleased to see me. I promise to dine with him soon."

" When I go to-day [November 8th] to Lafayette's din
ner, he is so late that he does not sit down till we have half
dined ; retires soon after, and we have not time to hold the
conversation which he wished. After leaving here I meet
the Bishop of Autun at the Louvre, and desire him to ad
vise Lafayette to the same conduct which I have done in
a very delicate circumstance. He has obtained from the
King a promise to choose his guard among the late Garde
Fran^aise, and the Jacobins are violent on the occasion.
He says that he has a right, in talking to the King, to give
his opinion as well as any other citizen. I tell him he
should put himself on different ground, and say that he
has earnestly recommended the measure to the King, it
being a tribute of gratitude to those brave men who had
so signally distinguished themselves in favor of freedom.
The Bishop is entirely of my opinion and will speak, but
he observes, very justly, that it is much easier to convince
Lafayette than to determine his conduct."

"To-day [November 9th] I have a long conversation
with Short on general matters and matters relating to
America. I tell him that Robert Morris's contract with
the farm, which Jefferson considered as a monopoly, was
the only means of destroying that monopoly of tobacco in
Virginia, by the Scotch factors, which really existed.
Give him some reason therefor. We have a few words
on Lafayette's subject. He expresses his astonishment at

1790.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 353

this man's inaptitude and imbecility. Poor Lafayette !
He begins to suffer the consequences which always attend
too great elevation. II s* eclipse au premier. Short also tells
me that La Rochefoucault is terribly puzzled about the
affairs of impositions. I reply that this is always the case
when men bring metaphysical ideas into the business of
the world ; that none know how to govern but those who
have been used to it, and such men have rarely either time
or inclination to write about it. The books, therefore,
which are to be met with contain mere Utopian ideas.
After this I go to the salon of Madame de Flahaut, and
stay out the company. The Comte de Luxembourg has,
according to custom, much to whisper. I tell him, in
plain terms, that the aristocratic party must be quiet un
less they wish to be hanged." '

"While in London I bought a large Newfoundland dog for
the Duchess of Orleans. To-day [November loth] I take
him to the Palais Royal, where I go to dine and present
him to her Royal Highness, who appears much pleased, and
the Vicomte de Segur Me prend en amitie.' Cela s'entend.
The Count and I take a turn round the gardens together,
and then I go to the club, where I murder a little time. It
has been a fine day. I think I never in my life had so
many different things agitating my mind as at present,
and I cannot commence one affair because another is con
stantly obtruding. Madame de Brehan says if the troubles
last she will go and live with me in America. I of course
agree to the arrangement."

"After dinner [November i2th], go to the opera. I sit
behind my fickle friend Madame de Flahaut, and as, luck
ily, the music makes me always grave, I keep still in the
sentimental style. The Comtesse de Prize is here, to whom
I pay my respects in the adjoining box. After the opera
luckily I meet Madame Foucault, and luckily she receives

354 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVI.

me particularly well. I take care, for many reasons, that
my countenance shall beam with satisfaction. Luckily she
expresses herself to Madame in terms very favorable to
me."

On Saturday, November 131!), the populace pillaged the
hotel of the Due de Castries. This was about the first of
this kind of depredation in Paris. The occasion of it, Mor
ris says, "is that the Due de Castries has wounded their
favorite, Charles de la Meth, in a duel, which he had drawn
upon himself by insulting the Duke. The history seems
curious. M. de Chauvigny comes to Paris for the pur
pose of fighting with Charles de la Meth, who, as he says,
fermented an insurrection in the regiment to which he
belongs. All this I learned at M. Boutin's, where M. de
Chauvigny, introduced by his brother, a bishop, related
what had passed on the subject. He had called on M. de
la Meth, whose friends, at a rendezvous given, told him that
M. de la Meth would not fight till the constitution was fin
ished. The other replied that he must in that case, until
the completion of it, continue to assert on every occasion
that M. de la Meth was a coward. This thing being again
in question at the Assemblee, De la Meth declared that he
would not have an affair with Chauvigny until he had set
tled with the Due de Castries (colonel of the regiment)
' qui m'a detache ce spadassin-la.' De Castries, of course,
requires satisfaction, and they proceed to the ground,
where the friends of De la Meth, who is an excellent
swordsman, object to his fighting with pistols. De Cas
tries, like a true chevalier, agrees to decide the matter aux
armes blanches, and wounds his antagonist. The populace
in consequence destroy the property of his father. This
is rare ; I think it will produce some events which are not
now dreamt of. The Assemblee (in the hands of the Jaco
bins) have, it is said, sanctioned the doings of this day."

1790. j GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 355

" This morning [November i4th] the Comte de Moustier
calls on me. We discuss his plan of a constitution together,
and he tells me that he stands better at court than ever he
expected. He says he is personally in favor with the
Queen, and he expects to be consulted on affairs by and
by. The King and Queen, he tells me, are determined not
to abuse their authority if ever they recover it. He tells
me incidentally that both the King and Queen have men
tioned me to him, the former twice, and that I stand well
in their opinion. This may perhaps be useful to my coun
try at some future period.

" Visit Madame de Flahaut. It seems to me from ap
pearances that Lord Wycombe is expected, and I tell her
so, but she says it is the Bishop. Company come in im
mediately after me — Madame de Laborde and Madame de
la Tour, after them Montesqutou; and while we are all
here enter Lord Wycombe, who is at once established as
the person to whom a rendezvous is given. We all go
away, but I presently after return and tell her, * Que je lui
serai a charge pour quelques moments de plus.' My Lord
is more disconcerted than my lady. He seems not yet ad
vanced to the point which these things tend to. Go from
hence to club, where I find there are some who justify the
populace for yesterday's business. M. de Moustier told
me that Montmorin had asked for Carmichael as minister
at this Court, which might excite opposition to Madison
and Short, the present competitors. It is a question in my
mind as to this request having been made by Montmorin."

" I hear to-day [November i5th] at Madame de Chastel-
lux's the wish of the Garde des Sceaux * to converse with

* M. Duport du Tertre, a member of the electoral body of Paris, became
Garde des Sceaux, or, rather, Minister of Justice (for the post of chancellor was
abolished soon after he came into the ministry) early in November, 1790. At
this time, of the old ministry there only remained Saint-Priest of the Interior,
and Montmorin of Foreign Affairs. The advent of M. Duport du Tertre ex-

356 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVI.

me. I promise to wait upon him. The Duchess of Or
leans reproaches me for absenting myself, and I promise
to dine with her to-morrow. At eight o'clock I go by ap
pointment to Madame de Flahaut's. She has not returned
from the Varietes, but desires I will wait. I am unluckily
obliged to do so, having promised Capellis to spend the
evening here. At half after eight she comes in, and Ma
demoiselle Duplessis * with her. I show more ill-humor
than consists with good sense or politeness ; at least, sucli
would be the opinion of most observers. She is full of
apologies, but I treat both them and her like a Turk. She
is very conciliating in her manner and words, and proposes
a rendezvous for to-morrow evening, which I refuse to
accept of. At length, however, she prevails, but as we go
in to supper together I tell her that she will probably fail
if a new comedy offers itself."

"To-day [November i6th], according to my promise, I
dine at the Palais Royal, and, as the Princess is alone when
I come in, I converse a little with her in a manner to gain
somewhat on her good will. After dinner I keep my ren
dezvous with Madame de Flahaut, but I find her surround
ed. Lord Wycombe, the Comte de Luxembourg, M. de St.
Foi are there, so I leave. My letters to-day are not pleas
ant. M. de Flahaut expresses a wish to go as minister to
America, and desires me to prevail on his wife to consent
to such a step, should it become possible to obtain the
place. I promise to speak to her on the subject. Go
and sit some time with Madame de Montmorin. She
expresses her conviction that Lafayette is below his busi-

cited great enthusiasm in ministerial circles. He was a simple, modest man
with a limited fortune, and of recognized uprightness of character. He signed
the order of arrest of the fugitive king, and finally lost his head in June,
1791-

* Mademoiselle Duplessis was a member of Madame de Flahaut's fam-
ily.

I79Q.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 357

ness, which is very true. She says that the Queen will not
consent to make her husband governor of the children of
France ; that the aristocrats abhor him. At dinner we
converse about the play of this evening, * Brutus,' which is
expected to excite much disturbance. After six o'clock
Bouinville and I go to the play. At leaving the roopi, as
it is supposed that there will be three parties in the house,
I cry, in a style of rant, 'Je me declare pour le Roi, et
je vole a lavictoire.' We cannot find seats, wherefore I go
to the loge of d'Angivilliers, and find that I was expected,
having promised to come and then forgotten it. Lord
Wycombe is established here, next to Madame de Fla-
haut, in the place which I occupied formerly. St. Foi is
here, a cunning observer. I determine, therefore, to play
them all three, and I think succeed pretty well. Propose
to her to make the old fox believe she is attached to the
young lord, which she exclaims against. She is, however,
resolved, I think, to attach him, and may perhaps singe
her wings while she flutters around that flame. The piece
excites a great deal of noise and altercation, but the parterre
filled with democrats obtains the victory clearly, and, hav
ing obtained it, roars for above ten minutes, 'Vive le Roi.'
After the play a motion is made to place the bust of Vol
taire on the stage and crown it, which is complied with
amid repeated acclamations. I write, for the amusement
of our party, these lines :

See, France, in Freedom's mantle gay,

Her former state disdains,
Yet proud her fav'rite Bard t'obey,

Tho' dead, his spirit reigns.

The common road to power he trod,
Cried, ' Pull all tyrants down,'

And, making of the mob a god,
Has gained from them a crown.

358 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVI.

I give them to Madame de Flahaut, desiring her to pass
them to my lord. He is well pleased with them, and this,
as it enables her to magnify her merits by her friends,
must of course please her. She wishes to fix an appoint
ment with me for Friday morning, but I desire her to
write her hour in season for me to reply, that, if there be
anything to prevent my attendance, I can inform her. She
is a coquette, and very fickle."

" Go to dine with the Garde des Sceaux [November
i8th]. His domestics know not what to make of me, a
thing which frequently happens at my first approach, be
cause the simplicity of my dress and equipage, my wooden
leg, and tone of republican equality seem totally mis
placed at the levee of a minister. He is yet in his closet.
I find in the circle no one of my acquaintance except Du-
pont the economist, who never took notice of a letter I
brought from his son, and seems a little ashamed of it.
The reception of the minister is flattering and his atten
tions great, so that those who had placed themselves next
him feel themselves misplaced. After dinner he takes me
aside to know my sentiments. I tell him that I consider
the Revolution a project that has failed ; that the evils of
anarchy must restore authority to the sovereign ; that he
ought to continue a mere instrument in the hands of the
Assembly, etc. As to him, the minister, he should, when
he quits his place, go directly from the King's closet to his
seat in the Assembly, and there become the advocate of
royal authority: He approves of my ideas, except for him
self, and says he has need of repose. This is idle, and
I tell him so. Ask him whether he intends to resign
(Madame de Flahaut told me so last evening, having
learned it from her Bishop). He says that he knows
nothing about it ; that he shall retire whenever the King
pleases. After our conversation the Abbe d'Andrezelle has

i79o.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 359

a long entretien. He tells me of a society formed for a cor
respondence with the provinces to counteract the Jacobins.
I give him some ideas on that subject for which he ex
presses himself to be much obliged, and asks me to be
present at one of their meetings, which I consent to."

" I am pressed by the Bishop d'Autun to stay to dinner
at the Louvre [November i9th], but I go to the Palais
Royal. We meet here the Due de Laval. After dinner I
have some conversation with him and the Comte de Thiard,
from whence I apprehend that a serious plan is laid for
introducing troops of the Emperor in order to liberate the
King and Queen, and restore the former government.
After dinner go to the Comedie Francaise, and sit with the
Duchess to hear ' Brutus.' Thence to Madame de Segur's,
where I take up Madame de Chastellux. They lament to
me that Lafayette has lost his influence. In the way home
she tells me that she is persuaded there will be an effort
made by the Emperor in favor of his sister. I hinted to
the Comte de Thiard the advantages that would result
from putting the Dauphin into the hands of governors,
and sending him upon his travels. Many of the discon
tented nobles and clergy of France are urgent with the
chief of the empire to avenge the insults offered to his un
fortunate sister. So fair a pretext, such plausible reasons,
both public and private, joined to a great political interest
and personal territorial claims, might determine an enter
prising prince. But he is cautious, trusting more in art
than in force.. How will it all end ? This unhappy coun
try, bewildered in the pursuit of metaphysical whimsies,
presents to one's moral view a mighty ruin. Like the
remnantsof ancient magnificence, we admire the architect
ure of the temple, while we detest the false god to whom
it was dedicated. Daws and ravens, and the birds of night
now build their nests in its niches ; the sovereign, hum-

360 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVI.

bled to the level of a beggar's pity, without resources,
without authority, without a friend; the Assembly, at once
a master and a slave — new in power, wild in theory, raw
in practice, it engrosses all functions, though incapable of
exercising any, and has taken from this fierce, ferocious
people every restraint of religion and of respect. Here
conjecture may wander through unbounded space. What
sum of misery may be requisite to change popular will,
calculation cannot determine. What circumstances may
arise in the order of divine will to give direction to that
will, our sharpest vision cannot discover. What talents
may be found to seize those circumstances to influence
that will, and, above all, to moderate the power which it
must confer, we are equally ignorant. One thing only
seems to be tolerably ascertained, that the glorious op
portunity is lost, and (for this time at least) the Revolution
has failed."

"The Bishop comes in [November 23d] while I am at
Madame de Flahaut's to-day, and as my carriage was sent
away he is grave. Leave them, and go to the Comte de
Montmorin's. Before dinner, the Due de Liancourt and
Montesquiou being there, in the course of conversation on
the actings and doings of the Assemblee, I say that the
constitution they have proposed is such that the Almighty
himself could not make it succeed without creating a new
species of man. After dinner I converse a little with
Montmorin about his own situation. He feels himself
very awkward, not knowing whether to stay or go, or, stay
ing, what to clo. Montesquiou comes up, and asks in
formation from me respecting the debt from America to
France. In the result of his inquiries it is agreed between
him and Montmorin that no proposition shall be accepted
without taking first my opinion on it. Go from hence to
Madame de Segur's. A little comedy is acted here by the

1790.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 361

children, the subject of which is the pleasure derived to the
whole family by an infant of which the countess was late
ly delivered. The play is written by the father to whom
I address in the course of it these lines :

For perfecting the comic art,

Let others take a single part —

While you, my friend, with nobler soul,

Embrace at once the mighty whole ;

For here we see arise from you,

The subject, play, and actors too.

As soon as the piece is finished I slip away. Madame de
Lafayette, who was here, reproaches me a little for desert
ing them. Monsieur has long been giddy from his eleva
tion. When he is a little sober I will see whether he can
any longer be useful to his country or mine. I rather
doubt it. Go to the Louvre, and find Madame has quar
relled with her Bishop, who is jealous of me. In conse
quence of the quarrel she is very ill, and surrounded by
friends and servants.

" After dining with Madame de Foucault [November
25th] I go to Lafayette's ; Madame receives me coolly
enough. I stay some time, leaning on the chimney-
piece. He comes out, and as soon as he sees me ap
proaches. Asks why I do not come to see him. I answer
that I do not like to mix with the crowd which I find here ;
that whenever I can be useful, I am at his orders. He
asks my opinion of his situation. I give it sans menage-
ment, and while I speak he turns pale. I tell him that the
time approaches when all good men must cling to the
throne ; that the present King is very valuable on account
of his moderation, and if he should possess too great au
thority might be persuaded to grant a proper constitution ;
that the thing called a constitution which the Assembly
have framed is good for nothing ; that as to himself, his

362 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVI.

personal situation is very delicate ; that he nominally, but
not really, commands his troops ; that I really cannot tell
how he is to establish discipline among them, but that
unless he can accomplish that object he must be ruined
sooner or later ; that the best line of conduct, perhaps,
would be to seize an occasion of disobedience and resign,
by which means he would preserve a reputation in France
which would be precious, and hereafter useful. He says
that he is only raised by circumstances and events, so that
when they cease he sinks, and the difficulty comes in how
to excite them. I take care not to express even by a look
my contempt and abhorrence, but simply observe that
events will arise fast enough of themselves if he can but
make a good use of them, which I doubt, because I do
not place any confidence in his troops.

" He asks what I think of a plan in agitation with re
spect to the protesting Bishops ; viz., to withhold their
revenues. I tell him that the Assemblee must turn them
out of doors naked if they wish the people to clothe them.
He says he is a little afraid of that consequence. I reiter
ate to him the necessity of restoring the nobility, at which,
of course, he flinches, and says he should like two cham
bers, as in America. I tell him that an American consti
tution will not do for this country, and that two such
chambers would not answer where there is an hereditary
executive ; that every country must have a constitution
suited to its circumstances, and the state of France re
quires a higher toned government than that of England.
He starts at this with astonishment. I pray him to re
mark that England is surrounded by a deep ditch, and,
being only assailable by sea, can permit many things at
home which would not be safe in different situations ; that
her safety depends on her marine, to the preservation of
which every right and privilege of her citizens is sacri-

1790.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 363

ficed ; that in all possible governments the first care must
be general preservation. He tells me the intended minis
ters ; they are all taken from among the people, and thus,
without knowing it, the people will find an additional tie
to the great envy of their fellows."

" Dine with Madame de Flahaut [November 27th]. She
tells me that the Bishop is well with the Queen. Cela
s'entend. She tells me that De Moustier speaks illy of me
at Madame d'Angivilliers.* He is wrong. Lord Wycombe
calls after dinner, and is seated a cote\ comme d' usage"

"At two [November 28th] I visit Duportail,f the new
Minister at War, and go from thence to the Louvre.
Lord Wycombe is here, and has had the whole morning,
say from ten to two. He goes away, being pressed by
Madame to return in the evening. She says he told her
that she loved me, which at first she laughed at, but after
ward seriously refuted. She insists on my partaking of
her dinner. Monsieur seems displeased. After dinner she
sends me with Mademoiselle Duplessis to visit Madame de
Guibert, who gives me a eulogy on her late husband by
one of his friends. When we return, my lord is established
a cott. The Marquis de Montesquiou is merry at having
found them so situated. I leave this society, and visit Ma
dame de Chastellux. The conversation of this last society
was quite high in the aristocratic tone. The idea of car
rying off the King is mentioned. My fair friend talked to
me of presenting to Lord Wycombe the cup formerly
given to me, and which I had sent back. I think it prob
able that she has already bestowed it on him."

11 Dine to-day [November 29th] at M. de Montmorin's.

* In the salon of Madame d'Angivilliers, so frequented during the eigh
teenth century, and so full of economic and advanced ideas of all kinds, the
Revolution found congenial soil and nourished vigorously.

t M. Duportail succeeded M. la Tour du Pin. He had gained distinction
in the American Revolution.

364. DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVI.

Lafayette comes in, and Madame de Montmorin observes
that he does not seem very glad to see me. She asks the
reason. I tell her that I lately told him some truths which
differed so much from the style of flattery he has been ac
customed to that he is not well pleased with it. Mont
morin observes that Lafayette has not abilities enough to
carry through his affairs. He says that within a month
past things have appeared to him much worse than they
were. He seems apprehensive of a visit from foreign
powers, and that the Comte d'Artois and Prince of Conde
may play a deep game. Nous verrons. \ go to the play
with Madame de Beaumont, and am placed luckily oppo
site to my fair friend. I know not whether she observes
me, but if she does it will be useful."

Just at this time more frequent applications were made
to Morris for advice about American lands, but he felt
that it would hardly do for him to bear the responsi
bility of " exciting French citizens to abandon their native
country." He was therefore anxious that an office should
be opened in Paris where maps could be seen and titles
lodged. Writing about this to Robert Morris, he says :
1 Purchasers here are for the most part ignorant of geog
raphy. So far from thinking the forests a disadvantage,
they are captivated with the idea of having their chateaux
surrounded by magnificent trees. They naturally expect
superb highways over the pathless desert, and see with the
mind's eye numerous barges in every stream. Le Coul-
teux was afraid to appear in the sale of your lands lest
the fashionable system of the * lanterne ' should be applied."
" I go to the Palais Royal to-day [November 3oth] to
dine with the Duchess, but she dines abroad and I go to
the club. The restaurateur is not a good one ; his wine is
very bad. Call at Madame de Segur's. She is in bed.
Wishes to know the purport of my conversation with La-

1790.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 365

fayette. I tell her that I told him many serious truths,
which were not to his taste. I take the Vicomte de Segur
to Madame de Chastellux's, where he reads a little comedy
called ; Le Nouveau Cercle,' which is not without merit,
but he reads too well to judge of it. For the rest, he has
made himself the principal character of the piece. Lady
Gary is here, an Irishwoman who has, I believe, the merit
of keeping a good house in Paris. Leave this at a little
after nine and go to the Louvre. My lord is here, of
course ; an observation which I make on the assignats
strikes him very forcibly. If I am not much mistaken, he
will quote it. His manner of seizing it shows a discerning
mind. Madame de Flahaut apologizes for having been
abroad this morning; had I told her I would call she
would have staid at home. I reply coolly that I came late,
that I might not interrupt her conversation with her new
friend. She feels this cutting sarcasm. She passed the
day with the Bishop, whose leg is hurt — a strain of the an
kle. I let her make inquiries about the play, where I be
lieve she did not see me, and my answers will be a little
disquieting."

" My letters are extremely disquieting. I rise this morn
ing [December ist] before day, after a night of sleepless
anxiety. Sit down to write by candle-light, and get all my
letters finished in season. Receive a note from Madame
de Flahaut, desiring me to come between ten and eleven,
as she is to visit Madame d'Angiviliers at half-past twelve.
I find her ill and complaining. I have not the disposition
either to quarrel or enjoy. Monsieur desires me twice to
remind her, at a quarter after twelve, that she is to visit
her sister. I tell her that every post since I have been
here brings me afflicting intelligence. She wishes to know
what it is, but I tell her that is unnecessary ; I mention it
in general, that she may not be surprised at my behavior.

366 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVI.

At twelve Lord Wycombe calls, and stays. I remind her
repeatedly of her engagement to her sister, and stay him
out, for which I apologize to her. Go to call on Le Coul-
teux. He is abroad. Madame is going out, and is half-
stripped when I enter. During the few minutes which I
stay she mentions a curious anecdote of the Comte de Pilau.
He is become devout to a most astonishing degree, and in
all the bigotry of the Romish Church ; a man who was
driven by the priesthood from Spain on account of his re
ligion, or, rather, the want of it ; a man who abandoned
an immense fortune for the sake of avoiding exterior
ceremonies. O God ! how weak, how inconsistent, how
wretched is man. Go to Mademoiselle Martin's and buy
a pot of rouge to take to my sister in London. I tell the
Bishop of Autun to-day that he ought, if possible, to ob
tain tiie embassy to Vienna."

"Sir John Miller visits me to-day [December 6th], and
talks of weights and measures. Dine at the Palais Royal.
After dinner visit M. de Lafayette. He is in a peck of
little troubles. I make my visit short. Madame's recep
tion is a la glace. Return to the Palais Royal, and take
Madame de Chastellux to the Louvre. At coming away
Madame de Flahaut desires me to take her to Madame de
Corney's. I am quite indifferent to her, and she asks me
the reason. I rally her on her connection with my lord,
who is to have this evening again, not having had an op
portunity to converse as he wished this morning. She
offers me a present which he made her, but I tell her I
will accept of nothing but a picture of her now in posses
sion of her Bishop, and that I will have it. I tell her when
I go away she will forget me. This she has long known.
I tell her that my reception when I last saw her was such
that, if Madame de Chastellux had not asked me to bring
her, I should not have given the trouble of my visit.

I7QO.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 367

Arrived again at the Louvre, I hand her out and am about
to return, but she insists on my going up. Arrived there,
I take leave, but am persuaded to stay a little while. Her
pride speaks a high language. She then either is, or pre
tends to be, ill. Monsieur comes up, and after a few words
I again take leave, but she begs me in English to stay.
The Bishop comes in; I speak to him again on the subject
of an embassy to Vienna, and mark out the means of suc
ceeding. I tell him that at present it is equally dangerous
to be either in or out of the Assemblee ; that a foreign
embassy is the only means of preserving himself en evidence,
and that if he can make himself the confidential man be
tween the Queen and her brother, he will be in the straight
road to greatness, whenever circumstances will render it
desirable. After he is gone I stay a few minutes, and
then follow him."

" I receive a letter to-day [December 8th] brought by
the English mail urging my departure for London. Go
to the Louvre, according to my promise, and find Madame
de Flahaut in bed writing to her Lord. ... In the
evening go to the Palais Royal and attend the reading of a
tragedy written by M. de Sabran at fourteen years of age.
It is very well written, but before it is finished I am called
away by M. de Flahaut. Return to the Louvre, and sup.
I lend Madame i,2oof. in paper to redeem so much gold,
which she has pawned. I do not expect to be repaid."

These last months of 1790 found Paris in a melancholy
way. While the democratic revolution, with heads on pikes,
went steadily and surely on, the aristocratic mode of help
ing a man out of the world went as steadily on in the Bois
de Boulogne, turned into a meeting-place for excitements
of all kinds ; the resort of lovers, duellists, idlers, and
tramps of every description. In 1790 a challenge and a
rendezvous under the trees there was quite the proper

368 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVI.

thing, and one word spoken in anger, or the appearance
of a cockade, was sufficient pretext for an exhibition of
skill with the sword — or the pistol, lately introduced from
England, which had met with much applause. In vain the
authorities pleaded the aristocratic tendency of this way
of settling differences. No one listened. People must be
amused. Paris was rapidly emptying ; art had gone ; the
dancer had gone ; the marc hands de modes went, leaving
Paris to the mercy of the provinces for its fashions, from
whence came strange things — bonnets trimmed with yellow
flowers, with the malicious suggestion that they were " au
teint de la constitution," and there seemed in this deserted
town to be only "fagotttres" left. But the roulette-table
and duelling consoled Paris. " Their patriotism," Goncourt
says, "they carried in their white cockade, for they whis
pered and wrote, * The king has abandoned us ; we are no
longer his subjects.' "

i79o.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 369

CHAPTER XVII.

Another trip to London. Stiffness of English society. Annoying indiffer
ence of the Duke of Leeds to American interests. Returns to Paris.
Dines with the Duchess of Orleans. Ternant appointed Minister
Plenipotentiary to the United States. Conversation with M. de
Segur. M. de Montmorin wishes Morris appointed Minister from
the United States. Asked to confer with the Committee of Com
merce. Dines with Lafayette. Dines with Marmontel. Lafayette
vexed. Madame de Nadaillac. The "farm " abolished by the Assem
bly. The tobacco decrees. Desired to write a letter on them.
Letter to Washington thereupon. Some details of the affair of Octo
ber 5th at Versailles. Disturbance in Languedoc. Trepidation of
the Bishop of Autun. Great tumult in Paris. Conversation with
Madame de Nadaillac. The Chateau during the riot. Lafayette
confesses the guards were drunk. Morris's advice to him.

IN the early part of December Morris again went
to London, where very pressing affairs demanded his
personal attention, and for some weeks, with wThat resig
nation he could muster, he gave himself up to long, dull,
and extremely unsatisfactory conversations with city men.
Mrs. Siddons was somewhat of a relief from the monotony
of business, but he only speaks of seeing her a few times —
once in "a very bad piece called 'Isabella,' in which she
acts very well." The stiffness of London society manners
never suited his taste, and he invariably found the rout
and the evening entertainment tiresome, and his only
comment was that there was no pleasant intercourse be
tween the men and women. " I go," he says, "one even
ing to the Duchess of Gordon's. Here in one room the
young are dancing, and in another the old are gambling
24

3/O DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVII.

at a faro-table. I stay but a little while, for the party is
to me vastly dull. The male dancers are very indifferent."

He again presented himself (December i8th) at the
Duke of Leeds's office, hoping to find that his affairs with
the government might have been advanced. He found
his grace "in council, but that breaks up while I am here.
Mr. Burgess tells me that the Duke is very much engaged.
He talks a great deal, but, stripping off the compliment
and profession, what he says amounts to no more than
that sundry cabinet councils have been held on the treaty
with America, and that a reference has been made of the
affair three months ago to Lord Hawkesbury, whose re
port has not yet been received. I answer to all this, very
dryly, that I have presented myself to let them know that
I am alive ; that I shall write from hence to America ;
that I leave town next week ; that I will wait on the Duke
at such time as he may indicate ; that if I learn nothing
more than that things are just as I left them I shall mere
ly say so ; that it may be worth their while to consider
whether the measures proposed last session in Congress
respecting the commerce with this country may not be
adopted, and what the consequences would be."

There is a decided flavor of republican curtness in this
message left for his grace which may have had its influ
ence. Certain it is, however, that although he subse
quently made two appointments to meet Morris, profuse
apologies from Mr. Burgess, and many regrets that " the
Duke is by a sudden and severe indisposition prevented
from meeting me," was all the satisfaction the latter
got from his grace. Morris was not slow to make his
ideas known with regard to the treatment he — or, rather,
his country — had received from the English Government,
and he mentioned that, "dining one day with Lord Lans-
downe, we have a great deal of conversation upon vari-

i79o.] GOUVERNELJR MORRIS. 3/1

ous subjects. I give them my honest sentiments respect
ing Britain and America, which are not pleasing, but I do
not mean to please."

Not long after this he was back in Paris again, and
making an early visit to Madame de Flahaut to learn the
latest news, which was always to be found in her salon.
"She complains bitterly," he says, January 19, 1791, "of
the Bishop of Autun's cold cruelty. He is elected a mem
ber of the Department of Paris and resigns his bishopric.
He treats her ill. His passion for play has become ex
treme, and she gives me instances which are ridiculous.*
He comes in, and I come away. Visit Madame de Chas-
tellux, and go with her to dine at the Duchess of Orleans'.
Her Royal Highness is ruined ; that is, she is reduced
from 45<D,ooof. to 2oo,ooof. She tells me that she cannot
give any good dinners, but if I will come and fast with her
she will be glad to see me."

"At Madame de StaeTs this evening [January 2ist] I
meet the world. Stay some time in various conversation,
altogether of no consequence. This morning Ternant
calls and takes breakfast. He was appointed Minister
Plenipotentiary to the United States last Sunday. We
converse a little about his mission. He wishes me to be
appointed here. I tell him that I understood from De
Moustier that Carmichael has been asked for. He says
that if it be not too late he will get that matter altered.
He will know more about it, and tell me.

" Go to the Louvre. M. de Flahaut had desired to see

* The Bishop of Autun was accused of playing so high that he made a pub
lic acknowledgment of his gains in the Chronique de Paris. " I have gained
in six months," he says, " not in the gambling-houses, but in the society of
chess-clubs, about thirty thousand francs," and seemed to think he had made
atonement by having had the courage to acknowledge his errors. He did
not, however, escape from the sarcasm of the pen of Camille Desmoulins,
who said: "The Bishop d'Autun feels called upon to bring back all the
usages of the primitive church, and among them public confession."

3/2 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVII.

me. He talks about sending hardware to America for
sale, a friend of his being at the head of a considerable
manufactory. I tell him his friend may call some morn
ing and I will speak to him. Go to Madame du Bourg's.
They are at play, and high play, too, in which I of course
take no part. Come away early."

" Madame de Flahaut tells me to-day [January 22d] that
she has a gleam of hope in her prospects, and I will try to
bring it to some end. Go to see Madame de Segur, and
take her a present of some apples, etc. Monsieur is with his
wife, and, the conversation turning that way, the pleasure
a man feels in speaking of himself leads him to communi
cate the history of the war between Russia and the Porte.
From his statement, England embroiled those powers.
Having taken the history a great way back, and brought
it to the peace which concluded the former war between
them, he states that the Empress took on herself to be
the liege lord (suzerain) of Georgia ; that the Afghis
Tartars, dwelling about the Caspian Sea, and who are con
stantly at war with the Georgians, received aid from the
Pasha in their neighborhood, and that the Tartars of the
Cuban made frequent depredations on the Russian terri
tories and then crossed that fordable river into the Turk
ish territory ; that complaints having arisen on this sub
ject, the mediation of France was asked and accepted,
and he and M. de Choiseul-Gouffier employed them
selves efficaciously in settling the difference. It was
agreed that the Pasha should no longer give aid to the
Afghis Tartars, and that those of the Cuban should not be
protected after their inroads as before ; that Prince Po-
temkin, having assembled a considerable army to be re
viewed by the Empress in that quarter, and being informed
that the causes of complaint continued notwithstanding
the treaty, sent immediately through the Russian ambas-

I79I-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 373

sador, Bulgakow, a menacing message to the Turk ; that
this being communicated by the Reis Effendi to M. de
Gouffier, he, much surprised, advised the Turk imme
diately to arm and informed him, Segur, of what was done
and doing ; that he thereupon spoke in very high terms
to the Russian ministry, who laid the blame upon Prince
Potemkin. They agreed to submit to any reasonable terms,
and although those proposed through M. de Gouffier
by the Turk were conceived rather haughtily, to his great
surprise they were acceded to. His courier, however,
charged with that intelligence, was intercepted by the
Turkish robbers, and murdered ; when he learned that
accident he immediately sent another, but before that
messenger arrived the English had been busy in dissuad
ing them from all accommodation. Their ambassador,
Mr. - — , told the Reis Effendi that he would be pow
erfully supported by Prussia and Poland ; that if Aus
tria should join Russia, a powerful diversion would be
made by the revolt in Flanders then in train ; that they
must not trust to France, whose favorite system it was to
support Russia, with whom she had lately formed very
close connections, and of course could not be cordially
attached to the Porte. 'The reason of England was
(says Segur) that, being vexed with Russia for forming a
treaty with France by which, among other things, the
principles of the armed neutrality are acknowledged, and
for insisting on a like acknowledgment, ,in a proposed
renewal of the treaty with England, she was in hopes of
making a breach between France and her new ally Russia,
or her new ally the Turk. In consequence of the British
intrigues, the Porte refused to accede to the terms which
she had herself proposed, but sent others in a style im
perious and dictatorial ; that he was much hurt at this,
but, to his very great surprise, the Empress acceded to those

374 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVII.

also, but by the time that her despatches were ciphered,
and just as the courier was about to depart, they learned
that the Turk had actually commenced hostilities. He
says that he long since informed his court that Hertzberg
had formed vast projects menacing all Europe, but that
no attention was paid to his information, and, on the con
trary, he was represented as a firebrand, desirous of gen
eral mischief ; that he very early proposed the triple
alliance of Austria, Russia, and France, which was then
rejected and has never been completed because, finally, the
French Revolution prevented a ratification by France.
He says that the late Emperor Joseph told him, shortly
before his death, that the Empress of Russia had permitted
him to make a separate peace, and that he might assure
the King he would agree to give up Chorzim, and even Bel
grade, to effect it. We pass then to the peace of Reichen-
bach, and I tell him the manner in which Van Hertzberg
became the dupe of his own contrivances.' *

"We learn this day some news which, if true, will affect
a little the affairs of this country. It is said that the Cath
olic militia of Strasbourg have all resigned and that a peti
tion is arrived, signed by four thousand persons, to which
a much greater number have adhered, desiring that all
which has been done in respect to the clergy and nobility
may be rescinded ; that conciliatory commissioners are
named (three) to go thither. Visit Madame de Chastellux
who tells me that she is informed by a person lately come
from French Flanders that a general apprehension is there
entertained of a visit from the imperial troops. I do not
believe in this visit.

"Leave her and go to the Louvre. I find Madame de
Flahaut in conversation with a deputy from the Islands,
who wishes a particular person nominated to the Depart-

* Unfortunately Morris does not give this conversation or his authority.

i79i.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 375

ment of the Colonies, and that, in the demarcation of lim
its with Spain, a tract should be ceded in St. Domingo, for
a part of which a plantation will be given of which she
shall have one-half. I sup here. She is very sad, and it
is in vain that I try to remove that sadness. But her pros
pects are very bad."

" La Caze repeats again to-day [January 23d] that Jef
ferson has made Robert Morris a promise on my subject
which is impossible. He tells me that he learned from
Colonel Smith the only objection to placing me in this
Corps Diplomatique would be my other pursuits. At
half-past three I call on Madame de Flahaut. The Bishop
of Autun is with her. Take a note of the person that the
Colonists want for their Minister, and then go to dine with
M. Montmorin. Meet Ternant. Montesquiou comes in
after dinner, and says he wishes to see me. Ternant and I
come away together. In the carriage he tells me that, on
entering the court at Montmorin's, he took occasion to ob
serve, on seeing my carriage, that it would be a good thing
I were appointed the Minister from the United States ; to
which Montmorin replied that he should like it much.
Ternant then told him it would be very easy to get it done,
since nothing more would be necessary than to signify a de
sire of the kind to Mr. Jefferson. Montmorin then said there
was another person who desired it, namely, Carmichael.
He asked if it was he or his friends who desired it, but be
fore any decisive answer could be obtained they entered
the salon. Afterwards go to take tea with Madame de
Chastellux, and sup with the Princess. A very fine day,
but drizzly evening. The news of Strasbourg, Montmorin
told me, is unfounded."

" This morning [January 25th] Ternant comes in. He
tells me that the appointment of a Minister for the Colonies
will experience considerable delay. He wishes me to con-

376 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVII.

fer with the Committee of Commerce. I promise to do so,
if they desire it. He wishes me to tell Montmorin the sum
which I conceive to be needful for a French minister in
America, which I will do when he tells me the appointment
is really made. At three o'clock go to dine with Madame
de Stael, who is not yet come in. Meanwhile I visit at the
Louvre, where they are at dinner. Madame de Flahaut is
ill, and goes to bed. Return to dinner. The Abbe Sieyes
is here, and descants with much self-sufficiency on govern
ment, despising all that has been said or sung on that sub
ject before him, and Madame says that his writings and
opinions will form in politics a new era, as that of Newton
in physics. Go from hence to Madame du Bourg's. She
advises me to pursue rather the attractions of society than
any serious attachment. Company come in, which puts
an end to that matter."

" This morning [January 26th] 1 am prevented from do
ing anything almost. First, M. de Flahaut presents to me
by appointment his friend, who is a chief of the works of
Amboise. He wants vent for hardware in the United
States. Then Colonel Walker comes to communicate the
perplexed state of the affairs of the Scioto Civilization
Company. He asks my advice, but I can give no advice,
not knowing sufficiently all the facts ; some of the most
important he remains ignorant of. Before he is gone
Colonel Swan arrives, and tells me that his plan for the
debt has fallen through by the misconduct of Cantaleu.4
He wishes me to visit Montesquiou. I tell him that if
Montesquiou wishes to see me he can call on me. Dine
with Lafayette, who is tolerably well content to see me.
Ternant is here ; he thinks a few weeks will drive things
to a decision. I think not. After dinner we have an inter
esting conversation together. He tells me that he had ar
ranged a plan for restoring order by the exertion of force,

I79I-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 377

in which De Bouillie and Lafayette were to co-operate,
but the latter failed while he was in Germany. He is now
at work to bring about the same thing. I see that he is
desirous of being in the ministry here, and would play at
heads for kingdoms. They want some person of this sort,
of a rank sufficiently elevated to run no risk unnecessarily,
and whose temper will not avoid any which may be neces
sary or proper. The Bishop happening to be at the Louvre
to-day, I ask him what kind of place he has got, what is
the income, whether it will support him, etc., and observe
that unless it will place him in an independent situation
he has done wrong in accepting. He says that it is the
only door which was open."

"Dine with the Duchess of Orleans to-day [January
2yth], and go thence to the Louvre. Madame de Flahaut
has her sister with her, who is arrived in great penury at
Paris, and to whom she has sent money, notwithstanding
the misery of her own situation. Leave them, and visit
Madame de Stael. Return early, after drinking much
weak tea."

" This morning [January 2pth] write, and at noon take
up Madame de Chastellux. We go together to Choisy,
and dine with Marmontel. He thinks soundly. After
dinner he mentions his mode of contesting the new-fan
gled doctrines of the droits de Vhomme by asking a definition
of the word draft, and from that definition he draws a con
clusion against the asserted equality of rights. He admits,
however, that all are equal before the law and under the
law. I deny this position, and make him remark that,
where there is great inequality of rank and fortune, this
supposed equality of legal dispensation would destroy all
proportion and all justice. If the punishment be a fine,
it oppresses the poor but does not affect the rich. If it be
corporal punishment, it degrades the prince but does not

378 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVII.

wound the beggar. He is struck with deep conviction at
this observation. I draw only one conclusion, that in
morals every general position requires numerous excep
tions, wherefore logical conclusions from such positions
must frequently be erroneous. I might have pursued (as
I have sometimes done) my remark a little farther, to the
legal compensation of injuries where the varieties are
greater, because the party committing and the party suf
fering wrong may each be of different rank in society. I
might go farther and notice those different varieties of
sentiment which the manners of different nations intro
duce into social life, for it is a fact that the * ill we feel is
most in apprehension.' The legislator, therefore, who
would pare down the feelings of mankind to the metaphys
ical standard of his own reason, would show little knowl
edge though he might display much genius. We return
to the Palais Royal, where I set down Madame de Chas-
tellux. Go to the Louvre. Madame de Flahaut is alone
and in sorrow. Complains of. the cold insensibility of
her husband's relations. He is ill, very ill. The Baron
de Montesquiou comes in, and asks if her dower is secured.
It is not. M. d'Angiviliers has paid his brother's debts ;
quaere, whether he will pay this as a debt privile'gid"

" To-day [February ist] I hear that M. de Rouilliere is
dead suddenly, and as he was writing the history of the
times, and was not friendly to the powers which are, their
adversaries say that he was poisoned.

"Paul Jones calls on me, and wishes to have my senti
ments on a plan for carrying on war against Britain in In
dia, should she commence hostilities against Russia. At
half-past three go to dine with De la Rochefoucault, and
later visit Madame de Segur, and sit for some time. She
is just returned from attending on her princess at Belle-
vue. The two old ladies, Mesdames Adelaide and Victoire,

I79L] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 379

are about to start for Rome. Ternant came this morning
and desired me to go to Lafayette this evening, and thence
to the Committee of Commerce. He said that he should
have caused the committee to write me a note, but that
Lafayette, who chooses to seem (the omnis homo) to do
everything, preferred taking" me along with him. After
dining I go to Lafayette's. Converse some time with Ter
nant, and when Lafayette comes up I tell him that I can
not go to the committee but at their request ; that what I
say will have less weight ; that I think it better for him to
go this evening with Swan, and then, if the committee sig
nify a desire to see me, I will wait on them to-morrow even
ing ; that in the meantime he can signify to me what he
wishes should be done. He agrees to the propriety of all
this in words, but I can see that he is devilishly vexed.
Be it so. Better he be vexed than carry me about in his
pocket."

"This morning [February 3d] Ternant calls and tells
me of what passed last e.vening. He says that Lafayette
agreed to the free culture of tobacco ; that it is an affair
of party entirely. He says that he proposed inviting me
to the committee, but that M. Raymond objected, as I
was interested. Colonel Swan told me this morning, apro
pos of the tobacco question, that there is a knot of men in
the Assembly who dispose of all things as they list, and
who turn everything to account. He speaks of their cor
ruption with horror. I dress and go to M. Mory's to din
ner. There has been, it seems, a mistake, and instead of
finding Chaumont I meet two kept mistresses. Chau-
mont and his wife come in presently after. It is ridicu
lous enough. However, she goes home. We stay, and
dine late. M. de Flahaut, I hear, is getting better. His
malady arises from his misconduct in pecuniary affairs. He
is a wretch, and the best thing he could do would be to die."

380 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVII.

" I dine with M. de Montmorin to-day [February 4th].
We have a numerous collection at dinner. Madame de
Montmorin shows me an almanac from England, sent her
by the Duke of Dorset, in which, among other things, is a
table of weights and measures. She says that it is one
among many things which will be useless to her. I write
in a blank leaf opposite to it :

A table here, of weight and measure,
In times like these it is a treasure ;
For each one measures now the state,
And what his reasons want in weight,
He makes up, as a thing of course,
By the abundance of discourse."

"This abundance of discourse" never ceased to amaze
Morris, so often was the mountain delivered of the
mouse. This day finished with a musical party at Ma
dame de Chastellux's, and an hour spent at Madame de
StaeTs. " Some advances are made to me by Madame.
We shall see." More music at the Palais Royal, and a
call at the Louvre, ''where Madame de Nadaillac sups, to
see me ; she is an aristocrat outrfo, and has heard that I
am of her sect. She is mistaken. She is handsome, and
has a good deal of esprit. Her aunt, Madame de Flahaut,
tells me she is virtuous and coquette and romantic. Nous
verrons. Madame de Nadaillac assures me that there are
many virtuous and religious young women in Paris. She
says she will give me a supper with the Abbe Maury."

"The Assembly have abolished the farm, etc., of to
bacco, permitted the culture, and laid on a large duty.*

* Louis Blanc, in his history of the French Revolution, gives a startling
description of the effect of farming the revenue which prevailed in France
until this year of 1791. Of eight principal branches of the revenue five were
farmed. The salt tax, the subsidy, the land, and the tobacco were all indi
rect contributions. The history of the farmers-general was the martyrizing of
the tax-payers ; for the tax-gatherers France was a conquered country. They

I79I-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 381

Dine [February i3th] with M. de Lafayette, and speak to
him about the enormous duty on tobacco brought in Ameri
can vessels. He wishes me to give him a note about it. I
tell him that I do not choose to meddle with matters out
of my line. He says that Mirabeau has promised him to
speak about it, and he expects that both the tobacco and
the oil will be taken up by the Diplomatic Committee. I
ask him whether it would not answer for the King to sus
pend that decree, and give his reasons. He says that he
would rather the Americans should be obliged to the na
tion than to the prince. I tell him that I learn from some
persons well informed that if he had spoken the question
would have been differently decided. He says that, on the
contrary, it was so carried to spite him, and that the aris
tocrats in particular opposed it merely on that ground.
Madame de Segur, whom I meet, confirms to me that the
aristocrats lost the tobacco question. I think an addi
tional reason for their vote is a hatred to America for
having been the cause of the Revolution. M. de Mont-
morin assures me that he is doing everything in his power
relating to the tobacco decrees, and I ask him if I shall
write him a letter on the subject. He expresses a strong
wish that I would, and pressed me earnestly to do so the
next day, as he was then to meet the Diplomatic Commit
tee."

Morris was extremely anxious to keep himself out
1 of sight, " not wishing to be quoted in any of the delibera
tions of the committee," and therefore, he says, speaking
of the note afterwards in a letter to Mr. Jefferson, " I stated

bled the people, and they had prisons and galleys ready to punish them.
Adam Smith, in his Wealth of Nations, suggested " that by subjecting all
those taxes to an administration under the immediate inspection and direc
tion of government, the exorbitant profits of the farmers-general might be
added to the revenue." " The most dreadful laws," he said, "exist in a
country where the revenue is farmed."

382 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVII.

the observations as being made by American citizens. I
am endeavoring, if possible, to obtain a duty on the cult
ure equivalent to the import duty. There is little hope
of success to any proposition for alleviating, much less re
moving, the burdens they have laid upon us. The greater
part have adopted systematic reasoning in matters of com
merce as in those of government, so that, disdaining atten
tion to facts, and deaf to the voice of experience, while
others deliberate, they decide, and are more constant in
their opinions in proportion as they are less acquainted
with the subject, which is natural enough."

In a private letter to Washington, written about this
time, Morris says of the late decrees, that the " laying
a heavy duty on oil, and giving a great preference of duty
on tobacco imported in Frencli ships, and declaring that
none but those built in France shall be reputed French
bottoms, will excite much ill-humor in America. Those
who rule the roast here seem to think that because the old
government was sometimes wrong, everything contrary to
what they did must be right. Like Jack in the 'Tale of a
Tub,' who tore his coat to pieces in pulling off the fringe
and trimmings that Peter had put on, or like the old Con
gress in its young days, which rejected the offer of valuable
contracts and employed a host of commissaries and quarter
masters because Great Britain dealt with contractors — but,
really, in the present effervescence very few acts of the
Assembly can be considered as deliberate movements of
national will. There still continue to be three parties
here. The enrag/s, long since known by the name of Jaco
bins, have lost much in the public opinion, so that they
are less powerful in the Assembly than they were ; but
their Committees of Correspondence (called Society's Pa-
triotiques), spread all over the kingdom, have given them
a deep and strong hold over the people. On the other

i79i.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 383

hand the numerous reforms, some of them unnecessary,
and all either harsh, precipitate, or extreme, have thrown
into the aristocratic party a great number of discontented.

" The military, who as such look up to the sovereign,
are somewhat less factious than they were, but they are
rather a mob than an army, and must, I think, fall either
to the aristocratic or Jacobin side of the question. The
middlemen are in a whimsical situation. In the Senate
they follow the Jacobin counsels rather than appear con
nected with the other party. The same principle of
shamefacedness operates on great occasions out-of-doors,
but as the aristocrats have been forced down by a torrent
of opinion from the heights of their absurd pretensions,
and as the middlemen begin to be alarmed at the extrem
ities to which they have been hurried, those two parties
might come together if it were not for personal animos
ities among the leaders.

" This middle party would be the strongest if the nation
were virtuous, but, alas! this is not the case, and therefore
I think it will only serve as a stepping-stone for those who
may find it convenient to change sides. In the midst,
however, of all these confusions, what with confiscating
the church property, selling the domains, curtailing pen
sions, and destroying offices, but especially by that great
liquidator of public debt, a paper currency, this nation is
working its way to a new state of active energy which
will, I think, be displayed as soon as a vigorous govern
ment shall establish itself. The intervening confusion
will probably call forth men of talent to form such gov
ernment and to exert its powers."

About a week later Morris dined with Montmorin, when
they discussed the decrees. " He tells me that he is well
pleased with my reflections, but he does not expect to do
anything in the tobacco affair, the Assembly are so violent

384 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVII

and so ignorant. I mention to Mr. Duport, who is here,
my plan, to which he gives but little heed, for the same
reason which M. de Montmorin assigns. This last tells
me that a M. Pinchon, who it was said killed himself in
July, 1789, was murdered ; that it was shortly after he had
deposited his portefeuille with the Due d'Orleans, which
he had been persuaded to do on account of the troubles ;
that the Due de Penthievre had been first proposed as his
depositaire, but this meeting with difficulty, his son-in-law
was fixed upon ; that the unhappy man was brought home,
and declared that he was murdered. He lived to sign sev
eral papers. There was found in his house two millions,
and his estate is bankrupt for fifty millions. M. Duport
mentions that from a state of the Due d'Orleans' affairs,
published by his chancellor, it appears that he is in arrears
about fifty millions more. Time will unravel these things,
if the suspicions be founded."

" I dine to-day [February 22d] with Madame de Foucault,
and meet there by appointment the Abbe Ronchon. Ma
dame is kindly attentive. I bring the Abbe away with me,
and he tells me that in the memorable affair of Versailles,
as it was known that the King was that day to hunt in the
forest of Meudon, a party of the populace, in number
about a thousand, went thither, and among them were
some assassins whose object was to kill him, and that a
reward of a thousand guineas was to be given to the wretch
who should perform that deed. He says that the Comte
de St. Priest, being informed of this, sent to urge His Maj
esty to come immediately on important business to Ver
sailles ; that this message made the violent party so much
his enemies as they afterwards appeared to be. The Abbe
believes all this, which I must acknowledge that I do not.
I think there is enough of little villainy about them, but I
question whether there be bold criminality."

i79i.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 385

"The Marquis de Favernay tells me [February 23d]
that there is the devil to pay in Languedoc. A kind of
religious war is there kindling between the Catholics and
Protestants. He says that the latter, who are rich, have
purchased over the national troops, and turned their
swords against the Catholics, under pretence of supporting
the new Constitution. I suppose others give a different
account of the affair, but it seems pretty clear at Nimes
and Uses they are actually come to blows. I go at nine
to the Louvre to take Madame de Flahaut to sup with
Madame de Nadaillac. According to custom, she is not
ready. We do not arrive till ten. Our hostess is very
pleasant. Insists that I shall be an aristocrat, whether I
will or no. She gives me assurances of her religion
and morality, etc., but she is a coquette, and she is enthu
siastic and romantic."

" Go to the Louvre [February 24th] ; see Madame de
Flahaut. She is ill in bed ; play sixpenny whist with her.
The Bishop of Autun is horribly frightened for his life.
When she got home last night she found in a blank en
velope a will of her Bishop making her his heir. In conse
quence of some things he had dropped in conversation, she
concluded that he was determined to destroy himself, and
therefore spent the night in great agitation and in tears.
M. de St. Foi, whom she roused at four o'clock in the
morning, could not find the Bishop, he having slept near
the church in which he was this day to consecrate two
bishops lately elected. At length it turns out that, pursu
ant to repeated threats, he feared that the clergy would
cause him to be this day destroyed, and had ordered the
letter not to be delivered till the evening, meaning to take
it back if he lived through the day."

" I learn [February 27th] that Paris is in great tumult, of
which I had indeed observed some symptoms this morning.
25

386 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [€HAP. XVII.

Go to the Louvre ; the Bishop is here. I return home,
and find the Place du Carrousel full of soldiers. See Ma
dame de Chastellux who tells me that the Princess is much
alarmed at what is passing in Paris. There is a deal of riot
conjured up, but there seems to be no sufficient object, so
that it must waste itself."

During the early weeks of 1791 rumor was fulfilling her
agitating mission, ably assisted by Camille Desmoulins,
who faithfully kept alive the fear that the continued emi
gration of aristocrats meant a counter-revolutionary plot,
the end of which would be a general massacre. The roads
were guarded to prevent the queen from escaping, as the
people were led to believe she intended doing, dressed as
a jockey. The king had been supplicated by a deputation
from the sections of Paris to prevent the journey of mes-
dames* his aunts to Rome. But his majesty had only
made answer that in his opinion the ladies had as much
right to go as any other citizen. Deeply incensed by
this answer, Camille Desmoulins wrote that they had no
right to go off with their pensions, or, as he expressed it,
to eat French millions on Roman soil. But on the i9th
the old ladies quietly slipped off — leaving the Assembly
rather startled, and extreme emotion and excitement
among the people, who were fully persuaded that the en
tire royal family meant to follow suit. Of the departure
of these ladies, Madame Campan speaks as follows: "I
know from the queen that the departure of mesdames
was judged necessary in order to leave the king's action
free from the constraint put upon him by the family."
La Chimique de Paris, a journal under the influence of
the constitutional party, expressed great surprise, in a
sarcastic article, that two sedentary old ladies should
be suddenly possessed with a desire to run over the
world. " C'est singulier, mais c'est possible. Elles vont,

I79L] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 387

dit-on, baiser la mule du pape — c'est drole, mais c'est
edifiant."

" The Comte de Provence, quietly dining with Madame
de Balbi, found himself suddenly surrounded by the
fetnmes de la Halle and an immense crowd of people of
all professions, who, in a fever of excitement, demanded to
know if he meant to quit the King's person, or, if the King
went, should he go too ? To which last question he re
plied in such a way as to silence and disperse, for a time
at least, even this mob. 'Osez-vous,' he said, Me prevoir?'"

The riot which Morris particularly mentions was in
consequence of some false news spread through the
town that arms and ammunition had been transported to
the donjon of Vincennes, and that there existed in the
Tuileries a secret passage through which the royal family
intended to make their escape. Lafayette, at tire head of
the National Guard, saved the fortress of Vincennes from
being demolished, and forced the assailants to retreat —
which they did, and tumultuously rushed into Paris, with
the formidable brewer Santerre in the midst of them.
Morris speaks of going to the court of the Tuileries
immediately after these riots, but " not being permitted to
walk in the gardens ; try the quay, but the mud is impas
sable ; go home and dress, and then go to Madame de Fou-
cault's to dine. After dinner visit Madame de Nadaillac.
She and her husband are tete-a-tete. We talk religion
and morality. Monsieur observes, with much vehemence,
that the man who, under pretext of the former, induces a
woman to violate the latter's laws is worse than an atheist.
Madame tries to mitigate a little this denunciation. Now
as Monsieur is of cold temper and temperament, and Ma
dame very enthusiastic, it seems to me that there is in this
a remote relation to the Abbe Maury, who is much con
sidered by Madame. He is a mauvais siijet^ and she is very

388 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVII.

religious and duteous, etc. I part with her upon a pretty
good ton, and Monsieur is also content. Return home, and,
according to appointment, Mr. Swan and M. Bremond call
on me. The affair of the tobacco is adjusted with the
controller so that we are to have a decided preference.
The government are to furnish a million and a half, and
the interested on this side of the water are to make it up
four millions, the business to be carried on on equal and
joint account."

" To-day [March 2d] I dine with Lafayette. I communi
cate to him some facts respecting American affairs, and,
as he is desirous of taking them all up together, I tell him
that he had better, in such case, get a resolution or decree
empowering the administration to act, for that otherwise
he will have so many interests opposed to his plan that it
must certainly fail. I think he will not follow this advice,
because he wants to appear the Atlas which supports the
two worlds. I ask him to tell me what passed the other
day at the Chateau. He acknowledges that the Garde
Nationale was drunk, and himself so angry as to have be
haved indecorously to the gentlemen there ; but he says, at
the same time, that M. de Villequiere was much in fault,
who, notwithstanding he had given his word of honor not
to suffer any persons to come into the King's chamber
except his usual attendants, had suffered a crowd to get
thither, many of them of the worst kind of people. Hav
ing heard his story, I tell him (which is very true) that I
am sorry for it, but as the thing is done he must now bear
it out with a high hand, and turn M. de Villequiere out of
office, assigning publicly as a reason that he permitted
certain persons (to be named) to come into the King's
chamber on such an occasion, contrary to the promise
made on his honor. He finds this advice very good. He
must be preserved yet."

i79i.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 389

CHAPTER XVIII.

The queen intriguing with Mirabeau. Morris's impressions of the Abbe
Maury. Madame de Nadaillac's salon. Madame de Tesse converted
to Morris's political principles. Vicq d'Azyr's eulogy of Franklin.
Morris takes supper with Condorcet. Paris illuminated. First in
troduction to Lady Sutherland. Conversation with the Abbe Maury.
Death of Mirabeau. Discusses with Montmorin Mirabeau's succes
sor. Mirabeau' s impressive funeral. Strictures on his character.
Robespierre comes to the front. Morris predicts to M. de Mont
morin the speedy dissolution of the present Assembly. A visit from
Paine. Madame de Nadaillac talks of religion and duty. Madame
de Flahaut asks advice as to marriage. Morris prepares a note for
the king on the rations for the French marine. Madame de Stael
reads her tragedy " Montmorenci." Morris gives her some advice.
Brilliant society in her salon.

U ALK about the Champs Elysees to-day [March

T T 7
V V

] with Madame de Flahaut and Mademoiselle
Duplessis. Propose to M. de Favernay, whom I meet, to go
to the restaurateur's, but Madame proposes that we should
bring our dinner to her. We go to the Hotel des Ameri-
cains, and, having made our provision, return and eat it
there. After dinner I return home, read a little, and
dress. M. Bremond* and M. de Bergasse come in. We
have much conversation on public affairs, which form the
object of their visit. They tell me that the Queen is now
intriguing with Mirabeau, the Comte de la Marck, and the

* Etienne Bremond, of whom Morris so often speaks in his diary, had been
successively cure at Chartres. canon of the cathedral, canon of a church in
Paris, and docteur de la Sorbonne. His chagrin at the imprisonment of the
king threw him into a painful condition of health, which resulted in his death
in January, 1795.

39° DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVIII.

Comte de Mercy, who enjoy her confidence. They wish
to visit me again. They tell me that Mirabeau, whose am
bition renders him the mortal enemy of Lafayette, must
succeed in ruining him by the instrumentality of his com
peers in the department. I incline to think, however, that
Lafayette will hold a good tug, being as cunning as any
body. Mirabeau has much greater talents, and his oppo
nent a better character. When the two gentlemen leave
me, I go to Madame de Nadaillac's. We have here the
Abbe Maury,* who looks like a downright ecclesiastical
scoundrel, and the rest are fierce aristocrats. They have
the word ' valet ' written on their foreheads in large charac
ters. Maury is formed to govern such men, and such men
are formed to obey him, or anyone else. Maury seems,
however, to have rather too much vanity for a great man.
Madame de Nadaillac is vastly attentive, and insists that I
must be un aristocrat outre. I tell her that I am too old to
change my opinions of government, but I will to her be
just what she pleases."

"To-day [March 5th] the Comte de Segur calls on me.
I ask him the character of the Comte de la Marck f and
the Comte de Mercy. J He tells me that the former is a
military man who understands his business, and that in
the affairs of Brabant his plan was to raise a popular party
which, in case of the independence of that country, should
be considered as the French party ; or, at any rate, by sow
ing dissension, facilitate the re-establishment of imperial

* The Abbe Maury defended with skill and eloquence the cause of the mon
archy, the church, and the nobles in the National Assembly. He became
afterward an archbishop and a cardinal, and died in 1817, having witnessed
the Bourbon restoration. He was born in 1746.

t Count Charles de la Marck was Minister of Marine from October, 1790, to
May, 1791.

? Count Mercy d'Argenteau was Austrian ambassador from the Court of
Vienna to Paris in 1791. He advised the flight of the royal family.

I79I-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 391

authority. The Comte de Mercy is, he says, one of the
ablest statesmen in Europe. Visit Madame Dumolley,
who is very desirous of my visits, because she finds I keep
company that she cannot reach. Leave her, go to the
Palais Royal, and sup with the Duchess. Madame de
St. Priest, who is here, wishes to know my opinion of what
has lately passed at the Louvre. I evade it handsomely,
and Madame de Chastellux tells me so, being a little vexed,
because she says that they will quote against her what I
have said, and which they will understand very different
ly from the true meaning. I ask her about the Comte de
la Marck, and find that I am acquainted with him. He is
intimately united with Mirabeau, is devoured by ambition,
and of profligate morals. Nous voilti done au fait. M.
d'Agout comes in. He is just arrived from Switzerland,
and brings me many civil sayings from Madame de Tesse,
who is become a convert, she says, to my principles of
government. There will be many more such converts."

" This morning [March 7th] I write, being still unwell.
In the evening Madame de Flahaut calls at the door, and
sends to know how I do. She will not come up, although
her husband and nephew are with her. Go to Madame
de Chastellux's, where we take tea ; a trio, of which the
Duchess makes the third. Visit Madame de Nadaillac, who
has been ill. We converse about her malady, afterwards
upon religion, and she wishes to know whether I have the
virtue of an American, which she doubts, because she is
pleased to say I have the amiableness of a Frenchman. I
leave that matter a little doubtful, but she seems a little
displeased that her husband comes in, which is a good
sign. Make my visit neither long nor short, and I per
ceive that both are content."

" I go to the Louvre [March i2th] to take Madame de
Flahaut to drive ; but the Baron de Montesquieu is here,

392 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVIII.

who wants to get into office, and then comes the toilette,
and then Mademoiselle Duplessis, so I go to call on Ma
dame de Chastellux. Swan calls and tells me what I had
hinted to him; viz., that Roederer's motions and resolutions
have cut up the regie by the roots. Ternant calls, with
whom I converse a little on those things. Dine with the
Comte de Montmorin, and, as Montesquieu comes in after
dinner, I mention those things to him. He wishes me to
have a memoire drawn. Go, after dinner, to the Academy
of Physicians, where Vicq d'Azyr* pronounces the eulogi-
um of Doctor Franklin."

"I go [March i;th] to supper to-night at Madame
d'Angivilliers. Madame de Condorcet is here. She is
handsome, and has un air spirituel. Talk with Condorcet •)•
after supper on the principles of the e'conomistes. I tell

* Felix Vicq d'Azyr possessed great attractions of person and manner, and
as a writer, professor, and orator was judged a worthy successor to Buffon
at the French Academy. He was the great promoter of the Academy of
Medicine, and he represented a new phase in the progress of social science ;
Vicq d'Azyr was perhaps the first physician who practised his profession in
Paris without a wig. He was chosen as the physician of Marie Antoinette,
and his short career embraced all the time that was accorded to the reign
of Louis XVI., for he only survived a short time after the 2ist of January,
1793, and perished a moral victim to the terrors of the Revolution. He was
born in Normandy in April, 1748.

t The last of the philosophers of the eighteenth century was M. de Condorcet,
secretary of the Academy of Sciences, the successor of d'Alembert, the last
correspondent of Voltaire, and the friend of Turgot. In his salon, which was
the centre of thinking Europe, where distinguished persons from far and near
were to be found, perhaps the most attractive feature was Madame Condor
cet, his lively, refined, and sympathetic wife. Always master of himself, Con
dorcet talked little, listened to everything, profited by everything, and for
got nothing. His sympathy was far-reaching, ready to embrace everything,
from the profound questions of the moment to the latest fashion in woman's
dress. In 1789 he ardently embraced the popular cause, and voted gener
ally with the Girondists, but not for the king's death. He attacked violently
the Constitution of 1793, and was obliged to seek safety against the Revolution,
and for eight months he found an asylum in the house of Madame Vernet,
where he wrote his famous Progres de 1'esprit humain. A longing for fresh
air impelled him to leave his house ; he was arrested, thrown into prison, and
ended his life by poison.

I79I-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 393

him, which is true, that once I adopted those principles
from books, but that I have since changed them from bet
ter knowledge of human affairs and more mature reflec
tion. In the close of our discussion I tell him that if the
impot direct be heavy, it will not be paid. Madame de Fla-
haut was taken ill to-day while she and Mademoiselle Du-
plessis were driving with me. We returned to the Louvre,
put her to bed, and played whist by her bedside. Vicq
d'Azyr comes in, and we have a little conversation respect
ing the conduct to be pursued by the Court. I give him
some hints as to the past by way of elucidating the future,
and he is equally surprised at the information and at the
force of my reasons. I see this in his countenance."

" Spend the evening [March 2oth] at the Louvre. Sev
eral persons come in and go out. At length we divide into
parties to see the illumination of Paris for the King's re
covery. It is a dreadful night, the wind very high indeed,
from the westward, with rain. The illumination was the
poorest, barest thing imaginable. M. de St. Foi comes
in between ten and eleven, and tells us that the Pope has
laid the kingdom under an interdict. This must produce
some movement as soon as it is known. The Duchess of
Orleans to-day, when I dined with her, is so kind as to
reproach me with absenting myself. After dinner, I visit
Madame de Nadaillac. Her reception is rather that of a
coquette than a devote."

" I cannot work in my apartment to-day [March 25th]
"because my servants want to clear my chambers for the
reception of company. I therefore go to see Madame de
Flahaut. The servants being out of the way, I announce
myself. Madame is tete-a-tete with M. de Ricy. She cries
out, with suddenness and alarm, ' Qui est-ce la ? ' Upon
naming myself, 'Je vais vous renvoyer tout de suite;'
I turn and leave them. I have to dine with me Mes-

394 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVIII.

dames de Lafayette, Segur, Beaumont, and Fersensac.
The Abbe Delille is one of the gentlemen. I tell Short,
who is one of the guests, that he has but little chance of
being appointed to this Court ; that Jefferson wishes him
to return to America, and that the appointment rests
entirely in Washington's bosom ; that it is to be made
this session. I show him the memoire and notes I have
made about tobacco. Speaking about the actings and do
ings of the Assembly in this regard, he says that the Due
de la Rochefoucault is led by Roederer and Condorcet,
who are both rascals. I remind him that I had judged the
latter long since by his countenance."

" Visit Madame de Chastellux [March 26th]. The
Duchess, to whom I mention the reason why I did not ask
her to breakfast, expresses a great inclination to come some
day or other. Madame de Montmorin to-day shows me the
letter of General Washington* to the Assembly printed in
one of the public papers. It is not what the violent Revo
lutionists would have wished, and contains a hint respect
ing Lafayette which his enemies will not fail to notice.
Hence to Madame de Segur's, who presses me to stay and
dine, which I refuse. Dine, as I had promised, with the
Duchess of Orleans, to see her daughter. It is a pretty
little princess and has an air tres fin. Go from thence to
Madame de Foucault's. The conversation is immediately
turned upon love. In the course of it I observe that I
have remarked ' deux especes d'hommes. Les uns sont
faits pour etre peres de famille et les autres pour leur

* On the 27th of January, 1791, Washington wrote to the President of the
National Assembly acknowledging the tribute paid to Franklin, which had
been sent to Washington in the form of a letter of condolence. He at the
same time desired the president to convey to the National Assembly his inter
est in their efforts to establish in France a firm constitution for the diffusion
of the true principles of liberty, assimilating as well as ameliorating the con
dition of mankind, and convincing them that their interest would best be pro
moted by mutual good will and harmony.

i79i.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 395

faire des enfants.' She is delighted with this observation.
Chaumont reads me a part of Laforet's letter to him, giv-.
ing a very exalted idea of the situation of America and
counselling purchases of land and stock."

"At Madame de Chastellux's [March 28th] there is a
breakfast. The English ambassador* and his lady are
here. If I might judge from her manner, I have made a
little progress in her esteem. We shall see. This morn
ing I got a fall in the street which barks my stump a little.
Go to sup with Madame de Nadaillac. Tell the Abbe
Maury that I expect he will get the hat the Cardinal de
Lomenie has sent back. I tell him also that the Holy
Father has done wrong in not laying the kingdom under
an interdict. He answers that opinion is no longer with
the Saint Siege, and that without an army to support the
interdict it would be laughed at ; that the instance of Eng
land Ynakes Rome cautious. I reply that the cases are
somewhat different, but, further, as the Assembly have left
the Pope nothing he might play a sure game, since he can
lose no more, and at any rate he had better have done
nothing than only one-half of what he might do, because
mankind may, by degrees, be habituated to everything.
He agrees to the truth of this, and owns that he should
have preferred extremities. I tell him that, from the mo
ment when the church property was seized, I considered
the Catholic religion at an end, because nobody would be
priest for nothing. He agrees fully.

" To-night, at the Theatre de la Nation, there is a dread
ful representation of monastic vengeance and guilt. See
Madame de Chastellux, who tells me that the British am-

* George Grenville, second marquis, who during his father's lifetime was
summoned to Parliament as Baron Gower. His lordship, who was a privy
councillor and Knight of the Garter, was created Duke of Sutherland, Janu
ary 28, 1833. He married, September, 1785, Elizabeth, Countess of Suther
land, and Baroness of Strathnaver in her own right.

396 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVIII.

bassadress is much pleased with me. She says the poor
Princess is very ill at ease."

"I dine [April ist] with the Duchess of Orleans. After
dinner go to the opera, and leave it early to take Madame
de Flahaut to Madame de Laborde's. In the way, we call
to inquire about Mirabeau's health. Guards stop us, lest the
carriage should disturb his repose. I am shocked at such
honors paid to such a wretch. On this subject I quarrel
with Madame de Flahaut. I stay at Madame de Laborde's
till eleven, and then go to Madame de StaeTs. The Eng
lish ambassadress is here, and receives me very well."

"Madame de Lafayette tells me to-day [April 2d] that I
am in love with Madame de Beaumont. I own it, though
it is not true. She says that her company must be insipid,
after such agreeable people. Que veut.dire cela? Go to
M. de Montmorin's to dine. After dinner go to the
Louvre. Mirabeau died this day. I tell the Bishop
d'Autun that he should step into the vacancy he has
made, and to that effect should pronounce his funeral
oration, in which he should make a summary of his life,
and dwell particularly on the last weeks in which he
labored to establish order ; then dwell on the necessity of
order, and introduce properly the King. He says his
thoughts have run much upon that subject this day. I
tell him he has not a moment to lose, and that such occa
sions rarely present themselves. I spoke to the Cotnte de
Montmorin about a successor to Mirabeau this day, but he
tells me that he cannot easily see who shall be put into his
place. He owns that Mirabeau was determined to ruin
Lafayette, and says that he had held him back for some
time. He says that Lafayette is a reed, good for nothing.
He thinks that there is no chance now left but to convoke
the next Assembly as soon as may be, excluding the
members of the present, and that the meeting should be

i79i.] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 397

far from Paris. The theatres are shut this day. The
weather is fine."

But of what use was it, if Mirabeau was dead — so all
Paris and the Assembly felt, as they sat and stared at the
vacant chair, where the immense athletic creature, with
"a vast forehead which seemed made to carry the burden
of thought," had so lately sat. During this day of mourn
ing, amusements were forbidden. A marquise dared to
give a ball. The furious crowd besieged the house, and
maltreated some of her noble guests, who were obliged
to take out their swords to defend themselves. For eight
days all the departments were in mourning, as for a
national calamity. The Bishop of Autun administered
ghostly consolation to the dying Mirabeau, and the people
mourned him dead. Nothing like it had been known be
fore, not even when lamentations rent the air, and ringing
bells sounded through the streets with the cry, " Le bon
Roi Louis, pere du peuple, est mort."

" A wonderfully fine day [April 3d]. I go to Marli. Ma
dame du Bourg receives me with the joy of one who
wishes something from a city to vary the sameness of the
lane. After dinner we walk much about the garden, and
we see many scenes of rural love. The shepherds and
shepherdesses seem to care but little for the appearance
of strangers, but pursue their gambols as freely as their
flocks and herds. This furnishes the matter of our con
versation. Return to town, and spend the evening with
the Duchess of Orleans. Madame de Lootange is here.
There is a violence of aristocracy in her, as in many oth
ers, which is diverting. She is handsome."

" To-day [April 4th] I go along the boulevards as far as
the convoi of Mirabeau will permit ; then go back to the
Marais, where I visit M. and Madame de la Luzerne.
They receive me tfautant mieux as that, being no longer

398 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVIII.

minister, my attention cannot be suspected. Visit Madame
de Nadaillac, where I arn led into an altercation un pen
vive with monsieur, who, among other ridiculous notions of
aristocratic folly, expresses a wish for the dismemberment
of France. I call on Madame de Chastellux for a few
minutes. She is to inform me to-morrow whether the ex
pedition to Sceaux takes place the day after. I cannot
\vait for her Royal Highness, but make a short visit to the
Louvre. It has been a prodigious fine day. The funeral
of Mirabeau (attended, it is said, by more than one hun
dred thousand persons, in solemn silence) has been an
imposing spectacle. It is a vast tribute paid to superior
talents, but no great incitement to virtuous deeds. Vices,
both degrading and detestable, marked this extraordinary
creature. Completely prostitute, he sacrificed everything
to the whim of the moment. Cupidus alieni, prodigus sui ;
venal, shameless, and yet greatly virtuous when pushed
by a prevailing impulse, but never truly virtuous, because
never under the steady control of reason nor the firm au
thority of principle, I have seen this man, in the short
space of two years, hissed, honored, hated, mourned.
Enthusiasm has just now presented him gigantic ; time
and reflection will shrink that stature. The busy idle
ness of the hour must find some other object to execrate
or to exalt. Such is man, and particularly the French
man."

Marat alone was violent against the dead man, and
called upon the people to give thanks that Riquetti was
no more. In less than three years the Convention of the
Revolution decreed that, "Le corps d'Honore Gabriel Ri
quetti Mirabeau sera retire du Pantheon francais, celtii
de Marat y sera transfere." In 1794, in the silence of the
night, coldly and strictly was this arretd executed, and the
man who had been so feted was put, near the meeting of

I79I-3 GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 399

many streets, into a nameless grave, over which daily the
hurrying crowds pass.

Lafayette told Morris that he thought the Bishop of
Autun would replace Mirabeau in the Diplomatic Com
mittee ; but the man whom Mirabeau had contemplated
with apprehensive curiosity for so long, the man whose
words were so carefully prepared and arranged and
whose attitude was so grave, was the man who was to
take his place and go far beyond him. When Mirabeau
disappeared, Robespierre almost immediately came to the
front.

" Dine with M. de Montmorin to-day [April 8th]. After
dinner, take him aside and express my opinion that a
speedy dissolution of the present Assembly would be dan
gerous. Their successors would be chosen by the Jaco
bins, whereas, if some months are suffered to elapse, the
Jacobins and municipalities will be at war, because the
latter will not brook the influence of the former. He says
that he fears the municipalities will be entirely under the
guidance of the Jacobins. This is, I think, a vain fear.
He thinks that more of the present members should be re-
eligible. I differ in opinion, because he knows the char
acter and talents of the present set and can buy such as,
after reelection, may suit his purpose. He says they are not
worth buying, and would, for the most part, take money,
to act as they please ; that if Mirabeau had lived, he would
have gratified him to the extent of his desires. He says
they must now work in the provinces to secure the elec
tions ; but I ask how he is to know the inclination and
capacity of members elect. He owns this to be difficult.
Speaking of the Court, he tells me that the King is abso
lutely good for nothing ; that at present he always asks,
when he is at work with the King, that the Queen be pres
ent. I ask if he is well with the Queen. He says that he

400 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVIII.

is, and has been for some months. I am sincerely glad of
this, and tell him so.

11 Spend an hour with the Duchess of Orleans. She
gives me the relation of some new horrors attending the
Revolution. She has been this morning to visit a sick
bishop. Return home, and read the answer of Paine to
Burke's book ; there are good things in the answer as
well as in the book. Paine calls on me. He says that
he found great difficulty in prevailing on any bookseller
to publish his book ; that it is extremely popular in Eng
land, and, of course, the writer, which he considers as one
among the many uncommon revolutions of this age. He
turns the conversation on times of yore, and as he mentions
me among those who were his enemies, I frankly acknowl
edge that I urged his dismissal from the office he held of
secretary to the Committee of Foreign Affairs.

"Madame de Chastellux tells me that the Duchess of
Orleans sets off to-morrow, under pretence of her father
being indisposed, to visit him, but, in fact, to bring about
a separation with her husband, whose conduct is become
too brutal to be borne. Poor woman, she looks wretched !
Visit Madame de Nadaillac, and by a rambling conversa
tion get more ground than she is aware of. She talks of
religion, duty, and conjugal vows before there is any oc
casion, but to her surprise I agree that these vows should
be held sacred. Tell her that it is a happy circumstance
for her that she loves her husband, because that otherwise
she could not but entertain another passion, which would
prove at length too strong."

"This morning [April pth] M. Bremond calls on me.
In the course of conversation I mention the claims of the
German princes upon France for supplies furnished a long
time ago. He opens this matter up to me, and says that
he has agreements already made with them, and wants

I79L] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 4OI

only about 1,200,000! to complete the affair, which will
give at least twelve millions. In the course of conversa
tion, he asks if I will propose the matter to M. de Mont-
morin. I am to consider of it, and he is to call to-morrow
and furnish me with the proper materials to converse
upon. Mr. Short and I have a long conversation on Ameri
can finance, and I endeavor to show him that the proposi
tion made in the name of Schwitzer, Jeanneret & Co. is a
good one for the United States, provided they abate the
commission. This is my sincere belief. I tell him also
that from what the parties have said to and shown to me, I
am convinced that they have great strength both with the
Court and in the Assembly ; that an operation of this sort
would be so much the more useful, as the United States
might make use of all this credit to support their domestic
operations. The conversation is long, and he is a little
changed in his opinions. I tell him some things which
may render him a little cautious respecting Mr. Swan, who
is, I find, in the habit of using both our names for his par
ticular purposes.

" I take Mademoiselle Duplessis to Madame de Flahaut's,
where we dine at her bedside, and afterwards visit Madame
de Nadaillac. Her friend the Abbe Maury is with her,
and I leave them together. She desires to see me again,
which I promise. She is at Gros Caillou, to attend the in
oculation of her children. Madame de Flahaut asks me
to-day whom I would recommend, in case of widowhood,
to be her husband. I tell her that I understand that it is
in contemplation to permit the marriage of the clergy.
She says she will never marry the Bishop, because she
cannot go with him to the altar without mentioning first
her connection with another. Visit Madame Dumolley,
who wants to know why the Duchess of Orleans is gone
to the town of Eu. I pretend ignorance."
26

402 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVIII.

"At ten [April i3th] I call on M. de Montmorin. En
ter fully with him both into his situation and that of the
kingdom. Propose the affair of the rations, and offer
him the interest agreed on. He declines being inter
ested, and after much conversation agrees to push it on
account of the King, provided the matter be secret. He
says he can rely on me, and that His Majesty will, he be
lieves, have the like confidence. I am to give him a note
this day to be laid before the King. Go to Jeanneret's
and inform Bremond of Montmorin's refusal, and at the
same time give him to understand that the business will
be done. Prepare the note for His Majesty. Go to dine
with M. de Montmorin, and after dinner give him the
note. He tells me that he must communicate the affair to
the Comte de la Marck. Their political connections are such
that he cannot avoid the communication. He will give
me a definitive answer on Monday morning.

" Go to Madame de StaeTs. Converse here with the
Duchesse de la Rochefoucault. Madame de Stael reads
her tragedy of ' Montmorenci.' She writes much better
than she reads. Her character of the Cardinal de Riche
lieu is drawn with much ability. The society is small, and
we have no small reprehension of the Assemblee Nationale,
who, it must be confessed, act weakly enough. N'importe.
Call at the Louvre, where I find M. de Curt making verses
and love to Madame de Flahaut."

"Call on Madame de Nadaillac [April i5th], whose
children begin to sicken with the small-pox. We talk of
religion and sentiment, but I am much mistaken if she
does not think of something else. Leave my name for
the British ambassadress, and go to dine with Madame
Foucault. She tells me that her husband has abandoned
his project of going to England, which she was delighted
with, and says that my description of it has deterred him.

I79I.J GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 403

I must endeavor to put this to rights. Her physician, also,
has agreed to advise the jaunt as needful for her health.
Shortly after dinner I go to the Louvre. We are present
ly interrupted by Vicq d'Azyr, with whom Madame de
Flahaut has a conversation about the Bishop. I presume
that it is to put him well with the Queen. After this, another
interruption by her sister and a M. Dumas, who brings dis
agreeable tidings respecting an affair in which she was con
cerned. Then comes M. de Curt, full of amorous declara
tion and protestation. I leave this scene at eight, and go
again to Madame Foucault's. She tells me that her hus
band has taken it into his head to go to Nantes, and in
that case she is resolved to go to England with one of her
friends or with me. She says he is a very bad fellow-
traveller. At ten M. Stebell comes in. A Mademoiselle
Chevalier, about fifteen, plays on the forte-piano admirably
well a piece of her own composition, which has great
merit. Her brother, younger than herself, plays another
piece very well. After that M. Stebell, who is wonderful.
This man makes from five to ten guineas per day. He
receives for his visit here this evening fifty livres. It is
said that he wastes with levity what he acquires with so
much ease."

" This morning [April i6th] I visit Paine and Mr.
Hodges. The former is abroad, the latter in the wretched
apartments which they occupy. He speaks of Paine as
being a little mad, which is not improbable. Visit Madame
de Trudaine,* who being denied, I ask for paper and com
mence a note to her, but before it is finished a servant

* The salon of Madame de Trudaine was known familiarly as the Salon
du Gargon Philosophe. At one or two grand dinners and suppers a week
she entertained all the dukes, ambassadors, gentlemen of letters and finance,
strangers, and ministers. The conversation was at the same time solid and
piquant. The mistress of the salon sometimes marred the perfect accord of
her guests by her indifference.

404 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XVIII.

asks me up. She is dressing, and St. Andre comes up.
Nothing here. Madame receives me well, and we are to
be unpeu plus lie's ensemble. Call on Short, and take him to
Madame de StaeTs. After dinner we have a fine scene of
vociferous argumentation between her and an abbe. I
tell her that when she gets to Switzerland she must let her
head cool, and then digest her ideas of government, which
will become sound by her own reflections. Go from
thence to Madame de Beaumont's, where we make a long
visit, and then go to the Louvre, and after a while Madame
goes into the bath, and the society wait on her there. I
stay till after supper, and then take Mademoiselle Duplessis
home. In the way I am sprightly, and she is pleased.
Ternant, whom I saw at M. de Montmorin's, tells me that
Fleurieu, the Minister of the Marine, is about to quit his
post, and that he thinks he will be replaced by M. de
Bougainville. Montmorin reminded me that I am to call
on Monday."

" Go [April i yth] after dinner to the Louvre. We visit
together Madame de Nadaillac, whose son is ill with the
small-pox. Madame de Flahaut, after returning home,
takes again her bath. I go to Madame de StaeTs ; a brill
iant society. The British ambassadress, who is here, is
much entoure'e by the young men of fashion. At coming
away the Comte de Montmorin, who is here, tells me that
he cannot give me an answer to-morrow, not having been
able to speak to the King this day. It has been fine
weather."

"This morning [April i8th] Swan and Bremond come. I
converse with them respecting the supply of rations to the
French marine. We have this day very much of a riot at
the Tuileries. The King intends for St. Cloud, but is
stopped, not merely by the populace, but by the national
militia, who refuse to obey their general. It seems that

I79I-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 405

His Majesty, having sanctioned the decree respecting the
clergy, and afterwards applied to one of the non-jurors to
perform the ceremonies enjoined at this season, has in
curred the charge of duplicity. I am a long time in ex
pectation of a battle, but am at length told that the King
submits. Call at the Louvre, where I find M. de Curt
established. Go away directly, and visit Madame de Na-
daillac. As she urges me to prolong my visit, and as it
is late, I send to the guinguette for a matelote, and dine in
her chamber. She makes many fa$ons, but we get along.
We shall see how things go, by and by. . . . M. Vicq
d'Azyr shows me the letter written by the department
to the King. It is dictatorial in the extreme. Madame
de Flahaut had already informed me of it, but I am obliged
to disapprove of it."

406 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIX.

CHAPTER XIX.

Shows M. de Montmorin draught of a letter devised as an answer from the
king to the department. The entotirs of the king resign. Resignation
of Lafayette. Sketch of European politics in a letter to Mr. Inglis, of
London. A republic becoming fashionable. Lady Sutherland's gra-
ciousness. Lafayette accepts the position of head of the National
Guards. Montesquiou asks Morris how to amend the constitution.
Celebration of the suppression of the octroi. Conversation with
Montmorin. Madame de Nadaillac's coquettish character. Morris
suggests to several ladies positions near the queen. Madame de Fla-
haut expects one soon. Montmorin weary of the situation. Visit to
Madame de Nadaillac.

morning [April 2oth] M. Bremond and M.
Jaubert call. Set them to work to bring the
Jacobins to the King's relief in the attack of the depart
ment. I dress and visit the Comte de Montmorin, to whom
I show the form of a letter I had devised as an answer from
the King to the department. He tells me that these last
were frightened into the step they have taken. This is, I
know, partly true, but it is also true that the step is bold
and, if successful, decisive. After conversing upon the
present state of affairs, we have one word on business. He
has not been able to attend to it, from the circumstances of
the moment. Visit Madame de Montmorin, and sit some
time ; she is much distressed by the fear of pillage and in
sult, the Baron de Menou having denounced her hus
band last night. I laugh at this denunciation as ridicu
lous, and endeavor to quiet her apprehensions. Go from
thence to the Gros Caillou and visit Madame de Nadaillac,

I79I-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS.

who disserts a great deal upon politics with much heat
and absurdity. It fatigues me. Dine with Mr. Short.
Ternant, who is here, tells me that he urged Lafayette to
resign, and that he agreed, but found afterwards various
reasons for not doing it. This is like him. M. de Chate-
let has brought hither Lord Dare, who is the son of Lord
Selkirk, and who meets here by accident Paul Jones. He
acknowledges the polite attention of Jones in the attack
on his father's house in the last war. Go from hence to
the Louvre, but Mademoiselle Duplessis is here. Madame
tells me that the entours of the King have resigned, that
those of the Queen will resign, and that she has hopes of
being placed near Her Majesty. I wish this may happen.
She tells me that she has written to d'Angeviliers to
travel, having obtained the assurance that in such case it
shall be no question of him. De Curt comes in, and after
staying a little while I come home, and read till Messieurs
Bremond and Jaubert call. The Jacobins are in treaty
with the Quatre-vingt-neufs* for an alliance. The object
is to prevent a decree rendering the present members in
eligible for the succeeding Assembly. After they leave me
I go very sleepy to bed."

" M. Bremond comes [April 2ist] to tell me what had
passed at the Jacobins', etc. Dress, ride with Mr. Short,

* The Club of '89, which Morris here alludes to as the Quatre-vingt-
neuf, was a dismemberment of that of the Jacobins. Malouet and some
of his friends, becoming alarmed at the extreme tendencies of the Club des
Jacobins, conceived the plan of forming a rival society, which they accordingly
did in April, 1790. The schismatics installed themselves in superb apartments
in the Palais Royal, under the name of the Club of '89. It would seem that the
new club was by no means uncorrupt, when Sieyes could exclaim, in an ac
cess of virtuous brutality, " that with the exception of two or three Jacobins
of whom I have a horror, I like all the members of that club, and with the ex
ception oi a dozen members among you I distrust all of you." While the
Club of '89 enjoyed their beautiful surroundings, the old Jacobin Club of the
Rue St. Honore manufactured, by the light of their flambeaux, the means to
push the Revolution to its completion.

408 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIX.

and then call on Madame de Flahaut, with whom I have
some conversation on political affairs. Dine with the
British ambassadress. We are en famille. She is a very
pleasing woman. Visit Madame de Nadaillac. Every
thing here is filthy. The weather is rainy. Lafayette's
resignation makes much noise. It is probable that he
will reaccept, in which case he will be worse than ever.
At the Louvre, Madame de Flahaut has with her a con
fidant of De La Porte, who comes to communicate the in
tention of the King to employ monsieur ; but she will write
a note to decline it, containing very good advice for His
Majesty. I tell her she must give me a copy of it. The
King's intention arose from the request of d'Angiviliers.
Go to M. de Montmorin's, and sit some time with Madame
de Beaumont and Madame de Montmorin. A rising
thunder-storm induces Madame de Montmorin to express
some wishes not favorable to the disturbers of the public
repose. As it is a question whether Lafayette will reac
cept, she expresses very just opinions on his subject : that
his weakness has done much mischief and prevented much
good, but that it is better to be swayed by weakness than
by wickedness, and that his successor would probably be
one of those who mean most illy. After dinner I speak to
Montmorin, who has done nothing in the business. I com
municate to him the cause of the intended coalition be
tween the Quatre-vingt-neufs and Jacobins. He tells me
that he could have got the exclusive decree passed long
ago if he would, but he was afraid of the four-years de
cree, which has been nevertheless adopted. I tell him
that if he can get the former now passed it will be the
means of splitting the Jacobins and Quatre-vingt-neufs,
after which they will both be more tractable. I give him,
further, my opinion that the King must endeavor to join
the populace. He agrees in this."

I79I.J GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 409

A slight sketch of European politics — from Morris's
point of view — given in a letter to Mr. John Inglis, of Lon
don, just at this time, is not without interest. He says :

" You ask my opinion of politics. It is difficult to form
an opinion, because much depends on the opinion of oth
ers, which is fluctuating. Your Court are in honor bound
to support the Turk, because you egged him on to the war
in which he has been so abominably mauled. The Em
press can hardly, I think, wish to possess herself of Con
stantinople, because she would hardly dream of holding
such extensive dominion, not to mention the blood and
treasure she must expend for the acquisition. I think,
however, that she must be more or less than human if she
does not wish to make you repent of your various aggres
sions. I think she can do this with infinite ease. A dec
laration of war will necessarily put you to great expense.
She has no trade. Many thousand beggars and vagabonds
will joyfully accept her permission to pillage. The idea
of going to Petersburg seems to me ridiculous. The risk
is great and the object small. To acquire Thun and Dant-
zic for Prussia by tricking the Pole will do you no good,
and, as far as I can look forward to futurity, it would tend
first to invigorate the government of Poland, and then to
dispossess Prussia of all that tract of country which lies
between Russia, Poland, and the Baltic, for it would be
the interest of Russia and Austria to give these to Poland.
A war with Russia will deprive you entirely of what is
called the carrying trade, and will lay from eight to ten
guineas per cent, tax upon your other trade. The first
mischance that happens will change your ministry, and
you will easily get peace, because just now nobody can
get anything by the war. I think further that the mani
fold blunders here open for you a fair chance to be inti
mately connected with America, if your rulers could make

410 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIX.

use of the opportunity. But prejudice and profit some
times stand in the way of each other."

" In going [April 23d] to the Louvre, one of my wheels
comes off, and by that means my carriage gets much in
jured. When I reach the Louvre M. de Flahaut meets
me, and complains that madame is going to the Assembly
with M. Ricy. She tells me that she is in a great hurry ;
M. de Montmorin is to read his instruction to the foreign
ministers, informing them that the King has put himself
at the head of the Revolution. I do not see that this can
be a matter of much moment to her. Go home and write
till three, and then dine with Madame de Trudaine. After
dinner monsieur expresses himself in favor of a republi
can government, which is growing now to be very fashion
able. Endeavor to show him the folly of such an attempt,
but I had better have let it alone. Go from hence to Ma
dame de Guibert's, where, of course, I meet the esprit jacobin.
Thence to Madame Laborde's. She complains much of
the republican party, and asks me why I do not express
my sentiments to the Bishop of Autun. I tell her that they
would have no weight, which is true. Call on Madame de
Stael, who is denied to me ; but, her servant being in gala,
I am sure she is to have company, and Montmorency is ad
mitted at the same moment. Go to visit the British am
bassadress. They have had many English to dine, and
among them General Dalrymple. After a while they go
to the play, and I take an opportunity to ask her ladyship
when she is most visible. She says that Wednesday was
her day, but she has none now in particular ; I may rely,
however, that I shall always find her at home when she
really is at home. In this I am sure, by her voice and
manner, she is sincere, and I reply in according accents.
She is a charming woman. Go from hence to the Comte
de Montmorin's, and have a long and interesting conver-

I79I-J GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 411

sation with his wife on public affairs. Urge, among other
things, the advantage to be derived from changing the
entours of the Queen."

" This morning [April 25th] Paine calls and tells me
that the Marquis de Lafayette has accepted the position
of head of the National Guards."

The dramatic side of this apparent devotion to Lafa
yette was intense and thoroughly French. Through the
rain and on foot the Corps Municipal went to him and on
their knees took oath to meet him again at the head of
the National Guards. But the blow had been struck, this
oath of blind obedience was soon turned into ridicule,
and the battalion wrhich first took it was called in derision
" Le bataillon des aveugles." Lafayette's power, under the
aspersions of Marat, the cries of some to beware of "Crom
well," and the warnings of Camille Desmoulins, mingled
with his despairing wail that " Paris, a bien meilleur droit
que la ville des Etats-Unis, pourrait s'appeler Fayette-
ville," was on the downward road. Lafayette, said I? ami
du Peuple, was to be seen, in the hat of a simple grenadier,
going through the cabarets and cafes trying to reanimate
the soldiers and his dying popularity.

"Madame de Flahaut, I find [April 26th], has not de
clined the plan proposed for her husband. Her Bishop
advises otherwise, because the King may make such a
choice as that M. de Flahaut will not be unsuitable to the
rest, and because the refusal may offend a weak mind
though founded on reasons which should attach. I add a
reason which had arisen in my mind, viz., that when once
taken up the Court cannot again let them fall, so that it
will be a kind of provision for her in all events. Go and
sit with Madame de Segur some time. She shows me the
letter from the Duke of Orleans to Madame de Chastellux,
with the answer of the latter. I find Lady Sutherland at

412 DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIX.

Madame de StaeTs. She tells me that the Duke of Leeds
has resigned. I express a hope, should I stay some time
in Europe, to see her at the head of the Foreign Affairs.
She says she should like it very much, but Lord Gower is
yet too young. I tell her that two or three years hence

he will have acquired the tact, and then -. He comes

in just before I leave this place, and mentions also the
resignation of the Duke. I ask if Hawkesbury is to suc
ceed. He does not know. He seems so anxious to prove
that the Duke's health is the cause of the resignation that
I cannot help assigning it in my mind to some difference
in the administration. Visit Madame de Nadaillac, from
whom I had received a note complaining of neglect. We
laugh and chatter and toy, and she complains of my
want of respect, but I think I must be less respectful to
be more agreeable ; in the course of a little amorous
conversation she tells me that I must not expect she
would capitulate, for she feels too much her religious and
moral duties ; that if she should, however, be frail, she
should poison herself next morning. I laugh at this.
Go hence to M. de Montmorin's to dinner. After dinner
I have a long conversation with him, partly on political
affairs. He promises to speak to the King on the busi
ness in the course of the week. He has mentioned it to
the Comte de la Marck, who approves. Among various
other things I suggest an act of oblivion by the Assem
bly and thereon another revolution letter. He approves
much of this, telling me that he is now preparing a letter
from the King to the Prince of Conde. I come home, to
meet M. Bremond and set him to work among the Jaco
bins to get the decree or act of oblivion moved by them.

" Conversing with Madame de Flahaut on affairs to-day,
from wrhat she says, but more from what she does not
say, I find there is a plan on foot to force all power from

I79L] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 413

*
the King into the hands of the present leaders of the

Opposition. While I am at the Louvre, Montesquiou
comes in, and I remind him of what I said respecting
their constitution. He begins to fear that I was in the
right. He asks how the evil is to be remedied. I tell
him that there seems to be little chance for avoiding the
extremes of despotism or anarchy ; that the only ground
of hope must be the morals of the people, but that these
are, I fear, too corrupt. He is sure they are. Madame
told me this morning that M. de Curt is to be Minister
of the Marine, if the decree of quatre ans is revoked.
M. Monciel* comes to see me, and gives me an account
of what he has done with the chiefs of the Jacobins.
He is to have a further conference. They think it
will be best to act in concert with the Court, without ap
pearing to do so, lest thereby they should lose their popu
larity. I agree in the propriety of this, and urge conform
ably to what I suppose their views to be, a repeal of the
decree des quatre ans and the decree of re-eligibility. He
is to propose this to them and to obtain, if he can, a list of
the articles they desire ; also, if possible, of the places they
aspire to."

"We are en famille at the British ambassador's to-day
[April 3oth] at dinner. Cubieres comes with Robert, and
they have a collection of the portraits of Petite in enamel,
which are very fine. Go from hence to the Louvre.
Madame de Flahaut is dressing. She tells me that she

* M. Terrier de Monciel belonged to a distinguished family of Franche
Comte. He was Roland's successor as minister in June, 1792, just before
the catastrophe of the 2oth of June, which he had not foreseen and which it
would have been impossible to prevent, though he did all in his power, how
ever, to re-establish order. He said in the National Assembly, the day after,
that " the action against the king should put all France into eternal mourn
ing." Forced, finally, to leave the ministry, he however remained in Paris
during the revolution of August loth, and afterward had the good fortune to
escape the proscription of 1793. He died in September, 1831.

4H DIARY AND LETTERS OF [CHAP. XIX.

has good hopes of succeeding to the place she aims at.
Sit a long time with Madame de Foucault and Madame de
Ricy ; afterwards sup. When we get into the salon we
have a deal of metaphysical conversation ; a gentleman
who has read Locke on ' The Human Understanding '
shows off."

Firing of cannon and processions of shouting people,
giving expression to their feelings, were of such common
occurrence in Paris that Morris does not even allude to
the " Kermesse de la Revolution," which took place on
the 3oth of April, to celebrate the suppression of the
octroi, when boats and troops of wagons, laden with mer
chandise and wine, which had been waiting outside of
Paris, came in decorated ; their drivers and men in charge,
crowned with branches, having liberally partaken of the
wine and beer that they were bringing free into the town.
It was calculated that each tax-payer gained about one
hundred livres by the suppression of the octroi, and the
people were more content \vith life on a cheaper basis.
Commerce, however, "the commerce of luxury, of use
less things, of nothing," was dead. The carnival was for
bidden, and with it went the support of a vast army of
workers on costumes, notably in the house of the famous
costumers, Lambert et Renaudin. There was no longer
a nobility able and longing to gratify every whim in art,
dress, and the nameless things that money could be wasted
on. The Abbe Maury — and a host like him — could no
longer indulge in the possession of eight hundred farms,
and delicious breakfasts which he partook of reclining in
the most beautiful and luxurious of fauteuils. The rich
bourgeois were reduced to living on the proceeds of what
they could sell. The Place Vendome was full of people
demanding work, and caricatures were not wanting to en
force the destitution of artisans upon those in power.

I79I-] GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 41 5

The patriots tried in vain to revive commerce, the papers
talked in vain ; commerce had passed into other countries.
Vice grew like a rank weed, the uncertainty